Suspect Caught Over Actress Urn Theft

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Chung Ok-sook, mother of the late actress Choi Jin-sil, bursts into tears as she takes back Choi’s recovered ashes at the Yangpyeong Police Station, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Police arrested a 41-year-old kitchen utensil installer Tuesday night in Daegu and the suspect confessed to the crime.


A 41-year-old man suspect was arrested for stealing an urn containing the ashes of the late actress Choi Jin-sil, police said Wednesday.

The Yangpyeong Police Station said the suspect, identified only as Park, was picked up at his home in Daegu around 11 p.m. Tuesday and then taken to a station in Gyeonggi Province.

"The suspect, a kitchen utensil installer, has confessed to the crime," said Woo Jae-jin, senior police officer in charge of the operation.

"We also found tools which he claimed to have used for the crime in his car."

Police secured her ashes, but the urn was broken when he was caught.

"The suspect stored the ashes in another container," the officer said. He said the suspect has no criminal record or history of mental illness.

On the reason for the theft, the officer quoted Park as saying, "Choi appeared in my dream one day and begged me to take her out of the urn and move her to a grave."

The National Scientific, Criminal and Investigation Laboratory will conduct a DNA test on the ashes to prove its authenticity.

Covering his face with a black jacket, the suspect in a black-and-white striped shirt arrived at the police station at 10:20 a.m. To reporters' questions, he repeatedly said, "I'm sorry."

The late actress's mother, Chung Ok-sook, who arrived at the station nearly one hour after the suspect, rushed to a room where the broken urn was on display and embraced it while sobbing. "I'm so sorry for not protecting you," she said. "I'm very happy to get back my daughter."

The arrest came 21 days after the urn went missing and two days after police placed a suspect on a wanted list based on surveillance camera footage of a man breaking her tomb and taking it away on Aug. 4. A citizen's tip played a decisive role, police said.

"A tipster reported to us that behavior style of the man shown in the footage was quite the same as a man the informer knows," another officer said. Police then carried out a low-key investigation into Park and reached a conclusion that they had found the correct suspect.

"We discovered Park's vehicle passed through a highway tollgate leading toward Choi's tomb on the day when the crime took place," the officer said. "A stone seller who the suspect met to buy a marble stone also confirmed Park was the same guy as the person in the images."

Police are widening their investigation to determine whether other people were involved.

Necrophile?

Criminal psychologists have raised the possibility that the suspect is a necrophile, someone who feels sexual attraction to corpses.

Professor Lee Yung-hyeock at the National Police Academy said, "It's very likely" in a telephone interview with The Korea Times.

"It's too early to make a conclusion. But I believe he should be possessive and was assaulted by parents or abandoned during his childhood, resulting in substantially damaging his self-esteem. These are factors commonly witnessed among necrophiles," Lee said.

According to surveillance camera images, the suspect first visited Choi's tomb on Aug. 2 and, two days later, broke the tomb's lower part encircled with marble plates with a hammer, and took out the urn, at 3:45 a.m.

Choi, who enjoyed a 20-year acting career, committed suicide last October at her home in Seoul, allegedly from depression following rumors that she had lent money to the late actor Ahn Jae-hwan, who killed himself a month earlier in the face of snowballing debt.

Source

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/veritas_vincit_/]

oh thank goodness!

that poor family having to go through that.


i really dislike that the police are almost excusing his crime because "he didn't have a good childhood".

that's fuckery

[goldi.livejournal.com]

my face just went from :I to D: after reading that last part. wth this poor family :c

[miduhyo.livejournal.com]

what. he stole her ashes, not her body, right? are there actually necrophiles that are attracted to ashes?

... i can't believe i actually just had to ask that question, btw. this whole thing has really depressed me as far as humanity goes. :\

[http://users.livejournal.com/veritas_vincit_/]

i just asked myself the same question.

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

I think maybe a necrophile just has the attraction and the necrophilia is commiting the actual act but yea I don't think he is one. I think he is just crazy

[a-small-star.livejournal.com]

It has happened in the past -- the attraction is usually not sexual, in terms of the ashes themselves, but an emotional attachment to something (well, ah, someone) that can be carried with them always. It's not technically a philia, but it's so rare that it's not been classified as a thing itself.

Hooray for Abnormal Psych classes? LMAO.

[steve-tales.livejournal.com]

when I heard "utensil" installer ... I thought, "what? he installs spoons?!"

this story is bizarre on all levels!

[kayleen-san.livejournal.com]

Oh thank heaven they were able to return the ashes. WTF is up with that guy?

[dream-raine.livejournal.com]

why do people do such things...it's sick and unnecessary....

[czarny.livejournal.com]

"kitchen utensil installer" wth kind of job is that!?

Ew necrophilia D:

[uchilove.livejournal.com]

i was wondering the same thing too, like what exactly do you need to install for forks and spoons? (cause that's what kitchen utensil means to me)

[czarny.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's a high-paying job in Korea. :O

[steve-tales.livejournal.com]

exactly! I pictured a spoon installer LOL like WTF!

Over in America it would be "appliance" installer for things like dishwashers, stoves, etc.

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing he installs dish washing machines, fridges, ovens, etc.

[czarny.livejournal.com]

Achso, but they're kitchen appliances :P Utensils mean like forks and knives to me. XD

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

I know, but I kinda suspect that the Korea Times reporter has just translated Korean word for appliances a bit wrong.

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

That poor mom omg. I bet she felt the same pain of not being able to protect her daughter all over again. I think the guy might be mentally ill but I hope he goes to jail over this.

[aetheristic.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad they found her remains, and now it sounds like this guy will get the help he needs too.

But I need to go to bed - as it is, when I first read the article, I could have sworn it said that a kitchen utensil was responsible.

Overtired...

[miseiko.livejournal.com]

Thanks God!

"I'm so sorry for not protecting you," she said.
Poor mother, this almost made me cry.

"Choi appeared in my dream one day and begged me to take her out of the urn and move her to a grave."
This is not a good reason to justify what he has done. Then would he have jumped out of the window if she asked him to?

[ficcy.livejournal.com]

The late actress's mother, Chung Ok-sook, who arrived at the station nearly one hour after the suspect, rushed to a room where the broken urn was on display and embraced it while sobbing. "I'm so sorry for not protecting you," she said.

/tears

On the reason for the theft, the officer quoted Park as saying, "Choi appeared in my dream one day and begged me to take her out of the urn and move her to a grave."

If this is true, um, wow, MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU SHOULD ASK HER FAMILY FIRST BEFORE BREAKING HER TOMB AND STEALING HER ASHES. You know, just a thought. :\ Not really believing him. Me thinks he a demented fan right nao.

[rockthecliche.livejournal.com]

"I'm so sorry for not protecting you," she said.

omg cue the tears.

[edgirl-12.livejournal.com]

i know, seriously..T__T

[livvyxo.livejournal.com]

that's exactly what made me tear up!!!!

[edgirl-12.livejournal.com]

Thats so sad and unfortunate. I feel so sorry for the family. I hope that dude rots in jail, thats so wrong on so many levels.

[baeraki.livejournal.com]

I'm glad he got caught and they found the ashes too.
...The hell is wrong with him?!

That picture breaks my heart.

[crowleyd545.livejournal.com]

God...first of all, that is just sick and not right. why
on earth would you want to steal someone's ashes. let
them be and rest. i'm so glad CJS is able to rest peacefully
again. terrible what happened.

[patapoufe.livejournal.com]

That picture makes me want to cry. ; ; Idk, I just want to give her mother a big hug. After having to see her daughter suffer from abuse and be sued after death, I really pray this woman and her granddaughters will have some peace.

[livvyxo.livejournal.com]

this :(

[uma.livejournal.com]

Thank Goodness!


I hope her family moves her grave to an unknown location.

[livvyxo.livejournal.com]

"the suspect, identified only as Park,"

Well, that narrows it down.




I'm just glad he's caught. I thought it would have been an anti-fan, but this man doesn't seem malicious - just an idiot.
and I hope he pays for it.

[bambayahh.livejournal.com]

thank god the man is caught.
i hope she and her family can finally rest in peace. ♥

[kororin.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry for her family, i just can't imagine all the pain they've gone through. First they had to deal with her death, and then with some psycho stealing her ashes :/
The picture of her mother crying teared me up :(

[jrocker9314.livejournal.com]

Gosh that pic made me cry. Seeing the mother like that towards her dead daughter. I can see that they were really close.

This whole story makes me cry. I'm really depressed now...

But I'm glad her ashes were returned, thank god.

And I hate how they blame his craziness on "bad childhood" and "necrophilia." Oh whatever. I don't think he's a necrophiliac. I just think he's crazy.

And unnecessary comment, but...
"The suspect, a kitchen utensil installer, has confessed to the crime,"
I thought, "What? You can install silverware? Where?"
But that's kinda creepy....

Anyways. I'm happy her ashes are returned.

[izabera.livejournal.com]

The National Scientific, Criminal and Investigation Laboratory will conduct a DNA test on the ashes to prove its authenticity.

come again? DNA is destroyed by heat during cremation. you cannot do a DNA test on ashes.

I feel so sorry her family has to go through this.

[sexi-panda.livejournal.com]

What in god's name? someone who has some kind of weird job I never even heard of stole an actress's urn. This is just to fucked up.

[x-keynotes.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh, I cried when I read this. I'm so so so glad that her mother got her ashes back.

That guy sounds like a total freak. Ew.

[theweathertoday.livejournal.com]

oh god her poor mother :/ I'm so glad they caught the guy though. and are there necrophiliacs attracted to ashes? I always thought they were attracted to the body...? idk.