The murder instigated by a monk who served him like a Buddha, the reason why he criticized alone.

■ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (06:40~06:55, 12:40~12:55, 19:40~19:55)
■ Broadcast Date: December 19, 2024 (Thursday)
■ Host: Lawyer Jeong Tae-geun
■ Dialogue: Attorney Kim Hee-eun

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◇ Lawyer Jeong Tae-geun (hereinafter referred to as Jeong Tae-geun): Mr. A, who was a monk at a temple in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, was famous for supporting Mr. B, the chief monk of the temple, like a god. According to Mr. B, it was just like dying. Then one day, B, a teacher, asked A a very earnest request. Mr. B, who was a teacher, apologized for killing his wife. As I said earlier, Mr. A couldn't refuse the request because he had treated Mr. B like a god. So, Mr. A eventually crossed the line that he should not cross. But then things started to turn a little weird. Mr. A, who was a passerby, probably believed that Mr. B would protect him. But that expectation had to collapse without fail. And in the trial held after that, A was sentenced to prison, while B was released not guilty. A really dramatic twist occurred to B, who was acquitted after seven years. What happened? Let's take a closer look at this in today's Incident X file. Hello, I'm lawyer Jung Tae-geun of lawyer Lee Won-hwa's case X file. With lawyer Kim Hee-eun of Law Firm Roel. Welcome, lawyer.

◆ Lawyer Kim Hee-eun (hereinafter Kim Hee-eun): Hello, I'm lawyer Kim Hee-eun of Law Firm.

◇ Jung Tae-geun: This case that we're going to look at today. I think it's a case where you learn the lesson that if you commit a crime, you will have to pay the price someday. It happened in a temple.

◆ Kim Hee-eun: It happened at a private railway in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do. Nine years ago, Mrs. Cho, Mrs. Thatcher-seung's wife, was murdered in the front yard of the temple. The culprit was Kim, who was approved by the governor. Cho in the driver's seat was strangled to death with a string. Kim, who was caught, confessed that it was ordered by the governor, who was having a feud with his wife over a woman. Thatcher's monk refers to a Buddhist male monk who is married and has a family, and Haengjaseung refers to a person who helps various things in the temple as a commoner before becoming a monk. Haeng Ja-seung Kim regarded his teacher, Thatcher-seung, as his usual Buddha and followed him.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: You look like a very ordinary priest, what happened?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: While investigating Haeng Ja-seung, the police receive a confession that they strangled Thatcher-seung's wife to death. However, shortly after, Haeng Ja-seung, who was under police investigation, confessed an unexpected story. Thatcher-seung, who had a bad relationship with the couple, bought Haeng Ja-seung to kill his wife.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: Didn't you say monk? Of course, even if you're not a monk, it's a request that you shouldn't do, but what kind of monk did you ask for that?

◆ [Kim Hee-eun] That's right. Thatcher-seung had an affair besides his wife, but when his wife caught him, the conflict between the couple was at its peak. Haeng Ja-seung followed his teacher, Thatcher-seung, as if he were a regular Buddha. Thatcher-seung emphasized a clean life by saying, "Don't kill." But one day, surprisingly, Thatcher-seung tells her to kill her wife. I can't live with my wife, so if I get rid of her, I'll let her escape abroad, and if the case calms down, I'll make her a big monk. So Haeng Ja-seung prepared a string and killed his wife when he saw a gap.

◇ [Jung Tae-geun] He must have really thought of it as a god. Seeing that they're ordering it.

◆ Kim Hee-eun: But after the arrest, Thatcher-seung's attitude changed dramatically. Rather, he said he had no idea, and he pushed the passengers. Haeng Ja-seung, who felt betrayed, confessed that Thatcher-seung instigated him.

◇ Jung Tae-geun: I think the betrayal must have been considerable, what was the prosecution's judgment?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: Eventually, Haeng Ja-seung's testimony will result in Thatcher-seung and Haeng Ja-seung being tried on charges of murder and murder, respectively, in August 2004.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: Still, I think it's a relief that I handed over the trial on charges of murder teacher.

◆ Kim Hee-eun: The first trial found Thatcher-seung innocent of murder charges and convicted only some of the charges, including special theft, and sentenced him to two years in prison in August.

◇ Jung Tae-geun: Why?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: That's because the court didn't believe Haeng Ja-seung's statement that Thatcher Seung killed his wife in the owner. Thatcher's acquittal was overturned on appeal. Found the murder teacher guilty and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. It considered that Haeng Ja-seung's statement was accurate and specific, and that Thatcher Seung did not express hostility to Haeng Ja-seung, who murdered his wife. But the Supreme Court overturned it again. The reason was that Haeng Ja-seung's statement was not credible and that there was an urgent situation enough for Thatcher to kill his wife immediately, or that there was no property benefit from it. Thatcher-seung was found not guilty after a revocation and remand.

◇ Jung Tae-geun: I don't know what to say. This is possible.

◆ Kim Hee-eun: Haeng Ja-seung, who murdered his wife himself, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison in the first trial. What's really frustrating is that Thatcher-seung cannot be punished again for murder even if new evidence comes out later. It's because of the principle of prohibiting double jeopardy. The principle is that once a final judgment is made on a case, the prosecution is not allowed to be filed again in that case. It is stipulated in Article 13, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: What did he think when he was acquitted and released?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: What is more absurd is that Thatcher-seung, who was acquitted of murder teacher charges and released, went to the insurance company and pocketed 800 million won in insurance money.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: Are you saying that death insurance was included in your wife's name? No, then I think it wasn't enough evidence to be taken into account as evidence of a murder teacher during the trial.

◆ Kim Hee-eun: It seems that the circumstances related to insurance were not dealt with in the trial. But what's really fortunate is that this event will turn around eight years later. What was it? The beginning was a report from an insurance company employee. The insurance company employee found something strange in the victim insurance document special arrangement. It was not an ordinary soldier or natural death, but when he died in an accident, he could receive three times more death insurance money. Thatcher-seung added the special contract by paying tens of thousands of won more monthly insurance premiums. It's as if he expected that he might die in an accident. Moreover, Thatcher-seung's wife, a contractor, was actually killed months after joining. The insurance company employee met with a team in charge of the long-term unsolved violent case of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which he usually knew. Police investigation revealed that Thatcher-seung signed life insurance contracts with two large insurance companies in the name of his wife about six months ago before his wife was killed around March and April 2003. As expected, the same special agreement was imposed. And after his wife died, Thatcher-seung received 800 million won from three insurance companies.

◇ Jung Tae-geun: I think the insurance company employee is really amazing, but I'm suspicious of the problem, but he's already innocent and the person who can tell me that I didn't sign a contract is already dead, so what can I do about this?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: Even if it's suspicious, we can't take issue civilly if there's no defect in the insurance contract. I needed to make sure my murdered wife signed up herself. To this end, the police have begun to check whether the signature and the wife's handwriting remaining on the subscription form are the same. There are no relics left in your wife's handwriting, but it was confirmed that she entered a high school in Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu late and studied, so I obtained a handwritten application form. However, the National Institute of Scientific Investigation said that more data must be secured to confirm whether the same person needs to be changed. The police received a call from the bereaved families that there was a record left on the Internet portal site, although it was not handwritten. The wife, who suspected that her husband was having an affair with the goddesses while she was alive, had separately arranged the names and phone numbers of the suspicious women in the address book of the Internet portal. Going through the address book, the police found the same number as the phone number recorded on the insurance subscription in your wife's name.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: Whose number was that?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: That was the phone number of Thatcher-seung's mistress I mentioned earlier. The police arrested her in a hurry and received a confession that she participated in the insurance fraud at Thatcher's request. And I immediately started to figure out the whereabouts of Thatcher-seung. Thatcher had already left for Cambodia with his children in 2006. When I looked at the immigration records, I found a record of intermediate entry.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: You must have gone abroad.

◆ Kim Hee-eun: Based on the most recent aircraft boarding records, the police have begun to check the actual residence with the cooperation of the local consulate in Cambodia. In addition, IP tracking was conducted by finding records of children who are believed to be living together accessing domestic Internet sites. It was confirmed that Thatcher-seung was in Cambodia, but he could not figure out more. Police removed Thatcher's passport and asked Interpol for a red list. It was four months after the police launched an investigation.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: I don't think it would have been a really easy task.

◆ [Kim Hee-eun] That's right. But what fate is it? Thatcher injured his foot in a log rolling in the Cambodian jungle. I went to a hospital there, but when it didn't get better, I entered Korea for treatment. Thatcher-seung was arrested at Incheon International Airport.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: But as I said earlier, the murder teacher charge cannot be re-applied under the principle of double jeopardy.

◆ [Kim Hee-eun] Yes, that's right. So the prosecution arrested and charged Thatcher with fraud. It was only two months before the statute of limitations expired. The wife murder teacher charge has already been acquitted, so it has been excluded according to the principle of prohibition of double jeopardy.

◇ Jung Tae-geun: So did you get a prison sentence?

◆ Kim Hee-eun: Thatcher-seung was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison for insurance fraud. There was a murder charge, but it was not possible to be convicted of murder based on the principle of prohibiting double jeopardy. As such, the court confirmed a seven-year prison term, which is unusual for fraud charges, in consideration of this situation. Did Thatcher really kill his wife? Of course, I don't think I can know from the above facts alone. Having been acquitted at trial, Thatcher-seung is not legally his wife's killer. Still, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud, so it seems that the victim's grudge has been paid back a little.

◇ Jeong Tae-geun: Case X file. Today, we took a look at the case of Thatcher-seung, who killed his wife and even collected insurance money under his wife's name. Although he was acquitted of the murder teacher charge, he was fortunate to be punished for insurance fraud belatedly. However, I don't think I can help but feel sorry for the number of seven years in prison. That's all for what we prepared today. You all deserve to be defended. Incident X file, thank you everyone.