The police said on the 16th that they had applied for an arrest warrant for a man in his 50s, Mr. A, who killed five family members, including his parents and wife and children.
Mr. A is accused of choking to death five family members, including his parents in their 80s, his wife in her 50s, and two daughters in their teens to 20s, at an apartment in Suji District, Yongin, on the afternoon of the 14th. He reportedly committed the crime after giving them sleeping pills and waiting for them to fall asleep.
The five deceased individuals found in the house were discovered dead in four separate rooms. It is reported that there were no visible serious external injuries.
After the crime, Mr. A left a note stating, "I will kill everyone and then die myself" and fled to an officetel in Gwangju on the early morning of the 15th, where he was apprehended by the police later that morning.
In police investigations, Mr. A claimed, "While running a business related to apartment sales, I was accused of 'fraudulent sales' by the contractors and found myself in a situation where I was burdened with enormous debt and faced a civil lawsuit," adding, "I couldn't let my family bear the debt."
The preliminary hearing for Mr. A before his arrest (warrant examination) is expected to take place as early as the 17th, with the decision on his arrest likely made that afternoon or late at night.