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Tue, January 31, 2023 | 08:53
Suwon murder shames police
수원 여성살인사건 경찰대응 총체적 부실
Posted : 2012-04-08 18:17
Updated : 2012-04-08 18:17
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Wu Yuanchun, a Korean Chinese man who kidnapped, raped and murdered a 28-year-old woman, reenacts his crime at a street in Jidong in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Friday.
/ Courtesy of Jungbu Police Station
By Na Jeong-ju

Police’s ability to perform their duty — serve and protect — has been put in serious doubt, following the revelation that they apparently mishandled a call for help by a woman being confronted by a Korean Chinese man in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, last week.

The 28-year-old woman was killed and chopped into pieces on April 1, police said.

The 42-year-old suspect, whose Chinese name is Wu Yuanchun, was apprehended at his house hours after the murder. When officers broke in, he was found cutting the victim’s corpse into pieces.

According to police, the victim called the 112 Crime Report Center with her mobile phone at 10:58 p.m. on April 1.

A check discovered that there were about 20 officers on duty at the emergency center but no responses were made in the critical eight minutes after the women’s call-in.

In a terrified voice, she told police that she had been abducted by a man and was being raped at the man’s house.

The crime scene was found to be only seven minutes away from the nearest police station.

She said the house was located somewhere between a public playground and an elementary school in the Jidong area, but the officer kept asking her for an accurate address. She then began to plead for forgiveness to her attacker as the sound of a door being broken was heard before the phone was dropped.

The call continued for several more minutes. She didn’t hang up in order to help detectives find her location. However, officers arrived at the scene about 13 hours after the call was made.

Police are suspected of having attempted to cover up their bungling of the case.

After the murder was first reported by the media, police said the phone was hung up after 1 minute and 20 seconds. However, it was later found that her call continued for more than six minutes.

Amid a public uproar, police released a recording of the conversation Friday, in which the victim, while being attacked, screamed for help numerous times.

This is the rented house where Wu murdered the woman he kidnapped. When officers broke into the house, Wu was chopping the victim’s body into pieces.
/ Korea Times
National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Hyun-oh said Saturday that he feels responsible for the incident. He vowed to overhaul the system to make police respond to crime reports more quickly and effectively.

The case has also sparked concerns about public security.

“Should we trust the police? Police couldn’t prevent the murder in Suwon although they received specific information from the victim about the location of the place where the crime was being committed,” a blogger said.

The bereaved family of the victim said they will file a compensation suit against the government regarding the police’s belated response.

“The police could have prevented the murder if they responded promptly to her call. We will seek compensation for what we suffered and will suffer from her death,” her relative told reporters. Her family members, including father and mother, wailed when they visited the crime scene on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Wu is said to have a wife and children in China. He came to Korea in 2007 and has worked at construction sites, making some 1.5 to 2 million won a month.

His neighbors in Suwon said he was a quiet man who liked drinking alone. Police found a bottle of Chinese liquor, photos of naked women and sanitary pads at his house.

Wu told detectives that he hit the head of the victim with a wrench twice and strangled her to death. He then took the body to the bathroom and cut it into pieces.

After that, Wu went out of his house at 5 a.m. to purchase plastic bags to contain the mutilated body.

The owner of a shop remembered him looking for the bag.

“He asked me if we have a black, large-sized plastic bag. I told him that we have only a blue-colored one and then he was gone,” the owner said.

His neighbors heard a woman screaming for help, but didn’t report to police because they thought it was a quarrel between a husband and wife.

수원 여성살인사건 경찰대응 총체적 부실
지난 1일 수원에서 발생한 20대 여성 납치 토막살인 사건에 대한 경찰의 대응이 허점 투성이였던 것으로 드러났다. 경기지방경찰청은 8일 112신고센터와 수원중부경찰서 등에 대한 감찰조사 결과 경찰이 기본적인 책무를 완수하지 못해 이 같은 일이 발생했다고 사과했다. ◇신고및 지령단계 경기청 112센터는 피해자가 사건당일인 지난 1일 오후 10시50분께 "지동초등학교 좀 지나서 못골놀이터 전 집인데요. 성폭행 당하고 있어요"라고 긴박한 상황임을 알렸으나 신고자의 위치와 주소만을 반복해서 질문하는 등 신고 접수요령에 미숙했다. 피해자가 `집안'임을 밝혔지만 112신고 접수표에 이같은 내용을 입력하지않았다. 이에따라 현장에 출동한 경찰관들에게 신고내용이 제대로 전달되지않아 엉뚱한 곳을 뒤지게하는 결과를 초래했다. 112센터 팀장은 지휘조정을 소홀히해 피해자가 밝힌 `집안'이라는 주요한 단서를 보완지령하지않았다. 또 공청시스템을 통해 피해자의 비명이 들리는 등 급박한 상황인데도 안이하게 판단해 직접 지휘하지 않았다. ◇출동및 수색단계 이같이 초기대응 미흡으로 신고 이후 3∼9분 사이 순찰차와 형사기동대 요원 등 16명 출동해 수사에 나섰으나 `집안'이라는 내용이 제대로 전파되지않아 엉뚱하게 도로, 빈집, 학교 운동장 등만 수색해 신고자가 변을 당하고 말았다. 수원중부경찰서 수사도 많은 문제점이 드러났다. 당시 중부서 상황관리관은 단순 성폭행 사건으로 안이하게 판단해 인력추가배치나 현장지휘, 보고 등의 조치를 취하지 않았다. 형사과장은 오후 11시41분께 사건발생 보고를 받았으나 역시 단순성폭행사건으로 안이하게 판단, 형사들을 추가 배치하지 않고 집에서 대기하다 사건 발생 10시간이 지난 다음날 오전 9시10분께에서야 현장을 둘러 본 것으로 밝혀졌다. 이런 총체적 조치,보고부실로 경찰서장도 다음날 아침 사건을 보고받았다는 것이다. ◇사건축소, 허위답변 관련 경찰은 신고자와의 전화 통화시간이 15초, 1분20초, 4분 등으로 계속 말이 바뀐 것은 중부서 형사과장등이 시간을 확인하지 않은 채 추측성 답변을 했기 때문이며 녹취된 부분은 1분20초, 전체 통화시간은 7분36초라고 해명했다. 그러나 피해자의 비명 등 계속 전화가 연결되어있던 시간이 공개되면 경찰의 안이한 대응에 대한 비난여론이 비등할 것을 우려해 이같이 통화시간을 줄여 언론에 공개한 것이 아닌가하는 의혹이 짙다.
Emailjj@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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