What are the "two things" you could have brought to court, a house robbery killer you couldn't catch 23 years ago?

■ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (06:40~06:55, 12:40~12:55, 19:40~19:55)
■ Broadcast Date: January 17, 2025 (Fri)
■ Host: Lawyer Lee Won-hwa
■ Dialogue: Lawyer Jeon Soo-ryeon

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: It was a very quiet night. It must have been a night like no other for Mr. A and his wife in their 30s, who were sleeping in the middle of the night. Even in my dreams, until an unexpected robbery hits me. The two robbers broke into the home of Mr. A and his wife, who lived in a second-floor house, on the gas pipe of the outer wall of the villa at the time, and wielded a weapon. That's very ruthless, too. A man died and A's wife was seriously injured in the incident. And the cash the two robbers took was only 1 million won. The two robberies were meticulous enough to hide their footprints and fingerprints at the scene. However, during the struggle with the dead A, they made the mistake of dropping the insulating tape they had prepared on the sofa. The police waited for their DNA to come out of the insulation tape, the only evidence left by the killer. Unfortunately, however, the technology at the time was not enough. 24 years have passed like that. Recently, it was reported that one of the criminals in the case has been put on trial. What has happened in the meantime? And what happened to the whereabouts of the other one? Let's take a closer look at this case in today's case X file. Hello, this is case X file dualization. Today, we are also with lawyer Jeon Soo-ryeon of Law Firm Roel. Welcome, lawyer.

◇ Jeon Training: Hello, I'm Jeon Soo-ryeon, a lawyer at LOEL Law Firm.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: There's a saying that it was right then and wrong now. It also sounds like the title of the movie. To substitute this word of this case, I want to tell you that it might have worked then, but it doesn't work now. If you go back to the time of the incident, it was 24 years ago.

◇ Jeon Training: On September 8, 2001, 24 years ago, a two-member robbery group A and B of a row house in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, broke into the house by going up a gas pipe on the outer wall of the building. They threatened a sleeping couple with a hoe knife in advance, but when the couple resisted, they brutally killed her husband C with a hoe knife, seriously injured his wife D, and took away the money.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: We've dealt with it once, but there are many cases where robbers break into the outer wall of the villa through pipes.

◇ Jeon Training: In this case, robbers who had never seen each other broke into the house through pipes and stole 1 million won and ran away. It can be said to be a very unfortunate incident that took valuable lives and destroyed a family in order to steal just 1 million won. At that time, the police started a large-scale investigation, starting with the identification of the crime scene, but they had difficulty finding any special clues to identify the suspects.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: I don't think there was any CCTV. There must be no fingerprints, hair, or anything to identify the criminal at the crime scene.

◇ Jeon Training: At that time, the criminals showed precision that left no fingerprints or traces at all like professionals. And at that time, as the lawyer said, there was no nearby CCTV, so it was very difficult to identify the culprit. In the meantime, the police were finally able to find only one meaningful evidence.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: What was the only one?

◇ Jeon Training: It was the insulation tape used to tie up the victim couple, who are the tools of the crime. If it is a tape, there is a high possibility that the criminal's DNA is left in the process of holding or tearing it by hand, so the police expected it to be a very meaningful evidence in finding the criminal.

◆ Won-Won-Won-Won: Do you think there's something we can use in this insulation tape?

◇ Jeon Training: If we had the current DNA analysis technology, it would have been so natural to detect it. Unfortunately, however, the technology 24 years ago failed to detect DNA evidence and eventually failed to identify the culprit, leaving the case as a long-term unsolved case.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: From what you've said, I don't think there were any fingerprints or notes based on the DNA analysis. The criminals may be wearing gloves or something. But even if it's 24 years ago, it's 2001. When I look back on that time, I think I have that much technology. But it must have been difficult.

◇ Jeon Training: As you said, of course, there was DNA identification technology at the time, but it seems that there was a limit. Therefore, it remains a long-term unsolved case. Still, the evidence was kept.

◆ Dong-won: Well, these days, technology is so advanced that it was only possible to have bloodstains or something very clear at the time, but now it is possible to extract DNA from very fine sweat, so if we had kept the evidence, we would have been able to identify the culprit's DNA. That's what I think.

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. Now, DNA analysis technology has become so good that it would have been possible to specify it if there was even a little bit as you said. This is an example of how big advances in DNA analysis technology play in solving this case. However, simply DNA technology in this case did not solve the case. There were two other important factors in solving this case.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: Two things? What do you think it was?

◇ Jeon training: The first is DNA method. The exact name is the Act on the Use and Protection of DNA Identification Information. The law came into force in South Korea in 2010 and requires the DNA of people who commit violent crimes such as sexual violence and murder to be registered in the national database. Thanks to this law, we were able to see that the DNA of the culprit in the case matched the database. As you may remember as a similar case, Lee Chun-jae, a serial killer who became famous for the movie "Memories of Murder" in Korea, was arrested using this DNA method.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: DNA law allowed a rare killer named Lee Chun-jae to be brought to justice.

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. When the true culprit of the Lee Chun-jae case was caught, the police now hoped that they might be able to solve the Ansan robbery again using DNA technology. At that time, there was no separate team exclusively in charge of unmade cases, but the police came forward and resumed their investigation.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: But if this is going to help, the criminals who committed robbery 24 years ago should have committed sexual violence or serious crimes, right?

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. Fortunately or unfortunately, one of the two true offenders at the time actually committed sexual violence again after this incident, which led to the registration of the true offender's DNA in the national database.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: I think I remember that saying, "I can't give you my habit."

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. But I told you earlier that there were two factors in solving this case. One of them was this DNA method.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: That's right. That's what they said. What was the other one?

◇ Jeon Training: The second is the statute of limitations. It's known as the Taewan Act. In the case of the death penalty for committing murder, the existing statute of limitations was 25 years, but the Criminal Procedure Act was revised to extend it indefinitely, and this came into force in 2015. In other words, the statute of limitations for murder has been abolished, so punishment is still possible 20 years after the incident occurred. However, some crimes, such as robbery and injury, are subject to the same statute of limitations, so of course, there are some regrets.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: We've covered the so-called Tae-wan Act several times in our program, but I think it's a law that plays a lot of roles. As you said, it's unfortunate that we can't apply robbery and injury, but I'm glad that we can apply robbery and murder.

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. Currently, the prosecution has charged the caught criminal with robbery and murder, and the sentence itself is likely to apply the maximum sentence in court. The trial is scheduled for earlier this year and the evidence of the case and the outcome of the DNA analysis are likely to be key issues in the trial.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: But did the criminal confess?

◇ Jeon Yeonsu: The culprit was arrested in 2021, but he stubbornly denied the charges at the time. Even after receiving the DNA results, the criminal claimed that he did not remember or had never been to Ansan, which is in the area where the incident occurred. The criminal even protested that the police or prosecution had fabricated evidence.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: What does it mean to say that evidence was fabricated? He even changed his DNA results. Is it like this?

◇ Jeon training: But of course, according to the verification by the prosecution and the National Forensic Service, there were no defects in the DNA analysis process, and moreover, we found a record of the criminal reporting a transfer to Ansan City in the past. It is said that the investigative agency also has clear evidence of reinforcement, such as the previous registration data of the car used at the time of the incident.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: Nevertheless, is it because of the court's advantage to deny it to the end? What's the matter?

◇ Jeon training: If a suspect legally denies the charges, the prosecution is responsible for proving guilt through evidence. Therefore, from the criminal's point of view, it is likely that he judged that a strategy that does not remember or denies relevance was advantageous for his defense.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: But another concern is that you said you had an accomplice. What happens if you say, "I was also at the scene, but I'm not the one who killed you?"

◇ Jeon Training: Even in that case, if it is proved that the accomplice's actions contributed to the robbery and murder process, all of them can be punished together for robbery and murder. This is because there is a joint criminal theory stipulated in Article 30 of the Korean Criminal Code, so everyone who participated in the crime can be punished according to that theory.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: But why can't an accomplice be identified?

◇ Jeon training: It seems that the person caught as the criminal is not making a statement about the accomplice, or there was a lack of additional evidence. However, the police are doing their best to track down accomplices through other evidence.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: No matter how late it is, accomplices can also be punished if they catch them, right?

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. As long as the statute of limitations is abolished and the murder charge is applied, no matter how long it has been, you can be legally punished if you are arrested.

◆ Won-hwa Lee: The police will also track down the remaining accomplices to the end and bring them to justice, and as they are expressing their strong will to investigate, I hope we can deliver the news that the other accomplice has also been caught. And as I said earlier, we've solved a lot of unsolved cases with DNA technology and DNA law.

◇ Jeon Training: That's right. With the development of DNA law and scientific investigation technology, it is really playing a big role in solving crimes. Recently, two criminals of sexual violence cases were arrested for different crimes and then arrested again just before they were released from prison, with their DNA consistent with past evidence of unsolved crimes. As a result of the DNA law, unsolved cases in the past are being resolved one by one, and victims and their families seem to have opportunities to realize justice at this late date. It can be said that it is very meaningful that long-term unsolved cases are being solved because law and science and technology work well together.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: Case X File, today we looked at the murder of a robber in Ansan, which broke into a row house and stabbed a man to death. This case, which remained unsolved 24 years ago because the criminal could not be identified. The police's persistent pursuit, technological development, and dense legal networks eventually brought one of the suspects to justice. But this is not the end. One accomplice hasn't been caught yet. As the investigation authorities are also burning their will, I hope to hear that they have caught the criminal. That's all we've prepared. You all deserve to be defended. Incident X file, thank you everyone.