Professor attempts to commit perfect murder

A university professor in Busan identified as Kang, 53, was arrested on Tuesday for killing his wife in alleged collaboration with his mistress. He had dreamed of committing the perfect crime but that soon came to an end.

An expert on computer crimes, Kang had repeatedly denied murdering his wife with the help of legal advice from a large law firm lawyer. However, hidden evidence caught him red-handed.

Before the murder took place, Kang searched for a place to hide the body. He had decided to throw the body into waters of Eulsukdo, a sandy island located on the estuary of Nakdong River to the sea.

Police said that the professor planned to kill his wife and have his mistress take care of the body in her car. The ropes and large bag used were bought from different stores while the metal chain was bought in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. He even took measures to not contact his mistress on his cell phone—and instead used the public phone—10 days before the murder.

As a computer expert, he was most concerned with the CCTV. To know how he was filmed on the CCTV when he entered his home, Kang went to the apartment management office and downloaded the footages on to his USB.

He purposely chose the meeting place with his wife and an escape route where he would not be captured on the CCTV. Police looked at over 160 footages but were unable to find Kang in any one of them.

He also made an effort to create an airtight alibi. Kang picked the date when he would be having dinner with his mountain climbing group and after the murder, he stayed until 5 a.m. the next day at a bar, drinking alone. Even though he had entered the bar at 1:30 a.m., Kang deliberately asked the owner if it was 12:30 a.m.—a ruse to manipulate an alibi.

The cold-hearted husband quickly changed his mobile phone after the crime was committed. He even went to KakaoTalk headquarters in Seoul to erase the text messages that he had sent to his mistress. The car in which his wife was strangled to death was washed and his mistress’s car was sold in the used car market.

However, he had left a trail. The police found traces of blood in his car. The CCTV footage put Kang in the store where he bought the large bags used to dispose the body and investigators were able to retrieve the text messages at the KakaoTalk headquarters.

Kang’s biggest mistake was that he had chosen Eulsukdo to dump the body. Due to the large differences in tides, the bag containing the body was pushed on to the shore.

“Kang may be an expert in computer crimes but he does not have professional knowledge and experience to cover up a murder,” said a police officer. “It was impossible for him to commit the perfect crime.”

아내 살해 완전 범죄 노린 교수

이혼 소송 중인 아내를 내연녀와 공모해 살해한 혐의로 24일 구속된 부산 모 대학 교수 강모(53)씨는 '완전 범죄'를 꿈꿨지만 물거품으로 끝났다. 컴퓨터 범죄 전문가인 강씨는 대형로펌 변호사의 조언을 받아가며 범행을 완강히 부인했지만, 곳곳에 남긴 증거 때문에 고개를 떨어뜨려야 했다.

강 씨는 아내를 살해한 뒤 시신을 버릴 곳을 미리 물색하다가 강이 바다로 연결되는 낙동강 하구의 을숙도로 정했다. 그는 자신이 아내를 살해하고 시신은 내연녀가 승용차로 옮기기로 계획을 짰다. 범행에 쓸 노끈과 포대, 대형가방을 각각 다른 곳에서 구입하고 쇠사슬은 경남 양산에서 구입했다. 범행 열흘 전부터 내연녀와는 휴대폰 전화도 하지 않고 공중전화만 이용했다.

컴퓨터 전문가인 그가 가장 신경쓴 것은 CCTV였다. 그는 자기가 아파트에 들어올 때 CCTV에 어떻게 찍히는지를 알려고 아파트 관리사무소에 가서 CCTV화면을 USB에 담아오기도 했다. 그는 아내를 만나는 장소와 시신을 운반하는 길을 CCTV가 찍히지 않는 곳을 골랐다. 경찰이 160여개의 CCTV를 조사했지만 그의 모습은 찾아낼 수 없었다.

알리바이를 만들기 위한 노력도 있었다. 범행 날짜를 그가 산행모임 회식이 있던 날로 잡았고 범행 후에도 술집에서 이튿날 새벽 5시까지 혼자 술을 마셨다. 그는 술집에 들어간 시각이 새벽 1시 30분이었는데도 일부러 술집주인에게 3차례나 "12시 30분 맞지"라고 말하며 알리바이를 조작하려 했다.

범행 후엔 휴대폰부터 바꿨다. 서울의 카카오톡 본사까지 찾아가 내연녀와 주고받은 문자메시지를 지웠다. 자기 아내를 목졸라 죽인 차는 세차를 하고, 아내의 시신을 운반한 내연녀 차는 중고차 시장에 팔았다.

하지만 곳곳에 흔적을 남겼다. 경찰은 그의 차를 정밀 감식해 핏자국 흔적을 찾아냈다. 시신을 담은 가방을 구입하던 장면은 매장 CCTV에 찍혀 있었고, 카카오톡 본사에서 지운 문자메시지는 경찰이 복원해 공범인 내연녀를 찾아냈다. 강씨의 결정적인 실수는 시신유기장소를 을숙도로 택한 것이었다. 이곳은 평소 조수 간만의 차가 심한 곳이어서 밀물 때 시신을 담은 등산가방이 갯가로 밀려온 것이다. 경찰 관계자는 "강씨가 컴퓨터 범죄에 대해선 전문가일지 모르지만 수사 전문가의 영역에 대한 지식과 경험에 한계가 있어 '완전 범죄'는 애초부터 불가능했다"라고 말했다.