By Han Sang-hee
A fierce legal battle is expected in court over the death of the pregnant wife of a doctor, after he was arrested Thursday on suspicion of strangling his wife during a scuffle.
The lawyer for the doctor is denying police allegations, claiming that they are charging him without any hard evidence and raising the possibility that she might be killed by somebody else.
The Seoul Western District Court said it issued the warrant as there were "plenty persuasive reasons" to suspect the doctor. There was also the possibility of him trying to destroy evidence or even fleeing, it said.
In the case dubbed as the "Korean OJ Simpson case," police have tentatively concluded that the doctor, surnamed Baek, strangled his nine-month pregnant wife at their home on Jan. 14.
The 31-year-old doctor reported to police that he found his wife dead in the bathtub, saying she must have slipped and died.
He claimed that a pregnant woman can experience a neck constriction while slipping or falling down, denying murder yet adding that there was the possibility that a third person killed her.
After failing to get endorsement for the first arrest warrant, police sought the second after a full autopsy by the National Forensic Service (NFS).
Police said that the husband was not in contact with his acquaintances for several hours on the day of the murder and there were no signs of outsiders entering the house according to CCTVs around the couple's home.
According to the NFS report, the 29-year-old wife likely died from strangulation, not from an accidental fall.
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