[Forensic Life] Sannakji Suffocation Death, Lingering Regrets

The man was in a romantic relationship with the woman. The woman lived in Incheon with her maternal grandparents and younger sister due to her parents' divorce. Her family circumstances were difficult, and she was naive due to limited social experience. The man, through his aunt, requested the woman to take out an insurance policy. The death benefit was 200 million won. Initially, the insurance beneficiary was the family, i.e., the heirs, but one month after subscribing, the beneficiary was changed to the man. About 15 days after changing the beneficiary, the man drank alcohol with the woman at a bar and then bought octopus at a nearby sashimi restaurant. Two live octopuses were placed whole in a water-filled bag, and the other two were ordered to be cut. The man and woman continued drinking from a nearby convenience store to a motel. Suddenly, at the motel, the woman’s breathing stopped and she lost consciousness. The man asked the motel staff to call 119, saying, "My girlfriend stopped breathing while eating octopus."

The woman lay straight, facing the sky, with a peaceful expression as if sleeping. In the motel room, there were drinking glasses, a disposable container with cut octopus, a black plastic bag containing a whole octopus, and a small towel. Near the victim, there was a large towel and another whole octopus on the floor. The drinking setting was completely undisturbed. The woman died about two weeks later from brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation. Medical staff treating the woman concluded that the sudden cardiac arrest was due to suffocation. Considering the victim’s age, health condition, and medical history, no other cause for the sudden cardiopulmonary arrest was presented. The conclusion was that she died while eating octopus in a drunken state, and her funeral was held.

The situation changed drastically when the woman’s family learned that the man had received the 200 million won insurance payout. The police investigated the case suspecting murder motivated by insurance money, and the prosecution indicted the man for murder based on forensic experts’ opinions. The first trial resulted in a guilty verdict, but the appellate court and the Supreme Court ultimately acquitted him. At the time, two forensic experts testified that the cause of suffocation could be airway obstruction caused by a foreign object blocking breathing, nasal and oral blockage preventing breathing, or cervical compression from strangulation or pressure on the neck. Initially, no live octopus was found inside the woman’s mouth, and it was claimed that the motel staff removed the octopus by inserting fingers after arriving. However, two forensic experts, including the author’s mentor, judged that such claims were difficult to accept considering the swallowing reflex that pushes food downward.

The High Court and Supreme Court held that the man’s claim that the woman choked on octopus she put in her mouth was not supported by evidence of nasal or oral blockage, and although the woman was heavily intoxicated, there were no significant injuries. Furthermore, there was no objective evidence to distinguish whether the octopus was ingested voluntarily or forcibly administered. Therefore, they concluded that a murder conviction was not possible.

A regrettable aspect of this case is that no autopsy was performed, and medical staff, focused on treatment at the time of the incident 15 days before death, collected insufficient physical evidence. The limited scope of forensic experts’ opinions in the trial is a point of regret for many forensic scientists.

When two people are in the same space and one dies, the presence or absence of an autopsy and the circumstances at the time of death can lead to different outcomes. Bereaved families inevitably harbor suspicions, and if someone present is wrongfully accused, social stigma may also apply. There is a need to consider new methods such as clinical forensic medicine.

Yoo Seong-ho, Forensic Scientist

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