Unsolved Case from 2021 May Be Solved... Two Suspects Arrested in 'Daejeon Bank Robbery and Murder Case'

Suspect A, apprehended in connection with the Daejeon Kookmin Bank robbery and murder case, is seen coming out of the Daejeon District Court after completing the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) on the afternoon of the 27th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Two suspects in the unsolved Daejeon Kookmin Bank robbery-murder case have been arrested. It has been 21 years since the incident occurred. They are known to be different individuals from the person whose arrest warrant was dismissed in 2002.

According to Yonhap News on the 27th, Judge Choi Kwang-jin of the Daejeon District Court conducted a pre-arrest detention hearing for two suspects, including Mr. A, who are accused of robbery and murder, and issued arrest warrants, citing "risk of flight and possibility of evidence tampering."

Mr. A and others are known as prime suspects in the Daejeon Kookmin Bank robbery-murder case that remained unsolved for 21 years. The incident occurred around 10 a.m. on December 21, 2001, in the underground parking lot of the Dunsan branch of Kookmin Bank in Seo-gu, Daejeon. On that day, two masked individuals appeared in the parking lot and fled with 300 million won in cash from an armored vehicle. During the process, they shot and killed a bank employee with live ammunition.

They showed meticulousness by not leaving fingerprints at the scene and applying dark tinting to the vehicle windows to prevent their identities from being exposed. As a result, the police only estimated that the suspects were men in their 20s to 30s based on testimonies from security company employees present at the scene but failed to identify the perpetrators.

In 2002, three suspects, including a man in his 20s who claimed to be the culprit, were arrested and investigated, but their arrest warrants were dismissed due to insufficient evidence after they claimed during the court's warrant hearing that their confessions were false and obtained through police torture. Since then, the case fell back into obscurity as the police failed to secure direct evidence such as a handgun.

Recently, DNA found at the crime scene was reported to match that of Mr. A and others. The police, who formed a dedicated team to continue the investigation, identified them as suspects and arrested them on the 27th. Mr. A and others are known to be different individuals from those whose arrest warrants were dismissed in 2002.

Meanwhile, it is reported that Mr. A and others are denying the charges during police interrogation. The Daejeon Police Agency plans to hold a briefing related to this case on the 1st of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.