By Kim Hyun-bin
A local court issued an arrest warrant Thursday for a murder suspect who killed and dismembered a middle-aged man.
“I plead guilty to all charges,” the suspect, identified by his family name Byun, 34, told reporters when he was taken to the court for the warrant review. “I am sorry for the victim and his family.”
Issuing the warrant, the court said the suspect was a flight risk.
Police caught Byun in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, and apprehended him on suspicion of murder and desecrating a body, two days after dismembered body parts were found near Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon in the same province.
The suspect, a karaoke bar operator, confessed to police he killed the victim at around 1:15 a.m. on Aug. 10 out of rage after the man threatened to turn him over to the police for providing an illegal hostess service. Both the suspect and the victim were intoxicated at the time, Byun told police.
Byun allegedly stabbed the victim to death and dismembered the body at the bar out of fear his crime might be revealed. Later in the day he disposed of the body near the park, where he thought it would not be found, according to police.
He told police he cleaned the establishment and stayed there for 10 days. Police said they found bloodstains and two tools used to dismember the body during a search of the crime scene.
The suspect has no prior criminal record. Police plan to refer the case to the prosecution next week.