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Daegu man charged with parricide after allegedly killing mother-in-law, dumping body in river

Published: 01 Apr. 2026, 21:23

A man and his wife are seen with a suitcase that was later found to have carried the body of the man's mother-in-law, in this CCTV footage from a shop on a street where the pair passed by in Daegu on March 18. [YONHAP]

DAEGU — A man has been charged with parricide after allegedly beating his mother-in-law to death and dumping her body in a river inside a suitcase. His wife is accused of assisting in disposing of her mother's body.

The Daegu Bukbu Police Precinct said on Wednesday that it plans to apply for detention warrants in connection with the case.

The man assaulted his mother-in-law on March 18, telling police he complained that she was noisy while doing the dishes and did not organize things properly, according to investigators.

The man’s wife told police that after her mother died, her husband instructed her to help dispose of the body. Authorities said the man had a history of domestic violence toward both his mother-in-law and his wife, and bruises were found across the wife’s body.

A preliminary autopsy conducted by the National Forensic Service found that the cause of death of the mother-in-law was multiple traumatic injuries caused by external force.

“A number of fractures were found in areas such as the ribs and pelvis,” a police official said. “We will also conduct further tests to determine whether any drugs or toxic substances were involved.”

A police official looks for a suitcase that was thrown into a stream near Chilseong-dong, Daegu, after a report was filed about a suspicious suitcase floating in the stream on March 31. A body was found inside the suitcase after police retrieved it. [NEWS1]

Police applied a charge of parricide to the two suspects, which under Korean law includes in-laws such as a son-in-law. While general homicide carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison, parricide is punishable by death, life imprisonment or a prison term of at least seven years.

The two suspects and the victim had reportedly lived together since September of last year, shortly after the couple married. They initially resided in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, before moving in February to a one-room officetel (building that combines commercial and residential spaces) in Daegu’s Jung District, rented under the son-in-law’s name. The victim’s husband lived elsewhere and was reportedly unaware of the crime.

A missing-person report had been filed last year after the victim left home to live with the couple and lost contact with her husband, but the case was closed after her whereabouts were confirmed, police said.

The Daegu Bukbu Police Station is seen in Daegu on April 1. [YONHAP]

The couple was arrested at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday at their residence in Jung District — about 10 hours after a pedestrian reported seeing a large suitcase floating in the Sincheon stream under a bridge in Chilseong-dong, Daegu, at around 10:30 a.m.

When officers retrieved the suitcase, they found a woman’s body inside, which had begun to decompose. The silver suitcase contained no identification.

Police identified the victim through fingerprint and DNA analysis.

By analyzing CCTV footage from the surrounding area and the suspects’ residence, investigators confirmed that on March 18 the couple carried the suitcase containing the body out of their home and took it to an upstream section of Sincheon.

After being shown the CCTV footage, both suspects immediately confessed. The son-in-law told police that he believed the victim died after he beat her.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAEK KYUNG-SEO [[email protected]]