Bloodstains at Lee Gi-young's residence confirm cohabiting woman... Path to proving charges opens?

Efforts to Prove Murder Charges Strengthened
Police Continue Body Search Operations During Seol Holiday

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The bloodstains found at the residence of Lee Gi-young (31), who is accused of murdering a taxi driver, have been confirmed to belong to one of the victims, his former cohabiting partner A, strengthening the evidence against him. Despite search operations continuing since the 27th of last month, the victim's body has not been found, raising concerns that the case might result in a not guilty verdict as a "murder case without a body."

According to the police on the 17th, the National Forensic Service confirmed that the bloodstains found at Lee Gi-young's residence matched the DNA of victim A.

Confirming that the bloodstains belonged to A was not an easy process. Considering that A was the owner of the residence where Lee Gi-young lived, it was presumed that the bloodstains might be hers, but this was only speculation. The DNA comparison with A's brother was inconclusive, and other family members are currently untraceable. It was also difficult to collect DNA from items used by A.

Ultimately, the police compared the bloodstains collected from the residence with tissue samples taken from A during a health checkup at a hospital in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, around February last year, which led to this forensic result.

On the morning of the 4th, Ki-young Lee (31), who was arrested on charges of killing his cohabiting girlfriend and a taxi driver at Ilsan Dongbu Police Station in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, is being transferred to the prosecution.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

This reduces concerns that proving Lee Gi-young's guilt would face difficulties. Since the direct evidence, A's body, has not been found for several days, it was challenging to concretely prove the charges based solely on Lee Gi-young's confession, but with the discovery of the victim's bloodstains, additional evidence has been secured.

However, concerns remain that this case could become a "murder case without a body." Even with indirect evidence, without direct evidence such as the body, it is difficult to determine specific details like the method of the crime or the time of death. Some speculate that Lee Gi-young may have provided false information about the location where the body was disposed of to confuse the investigation and aim for acquittal.

The police plan to continue searching for the victim's body throughout the Lunar New Year holiday period.

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