Mother of frozen babies believed to be key suspect

Posted on : 2006-08-07 22:00 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

Police said Monday that two infants found dead in the freezer of a French man's house in Seoul two weeks ago are believed to have been killed by the man's wife, also a French national.

Police made the announcement based on DNA tests identifying the mother of the two babies as the wife and other evidence they refused to disclose.

"After reviewing what we have investigated so far, we're continuing our probe, with V as a key suspect,” said Kim Kap-sik, a senior police officer, in a press conference. V is the initial of the wife’s family name.

The babies have maternal line DNA which matches samples taken from the man's wife, Kim said, citing tests conducted by the National Institute of Science Investigation.

Kim said the police have yet to determine why she may have killed her babies.

The institute conducted DNA tests on several women who had a close relationship with the French man, who has worked as an automobile engineer since 2002. He was identified by the initial of his family name, C.

Initial DNA tests pointed to him as the father of the babies but he has denied the veracity of the test results. The investigation began after the 40-year-old Frenchman reported to South Korean police on July 23 that he found the deceased babies in his freezer at his home in Seoul after he returned from a month-long vacation in France. After the investigation opened, he returned to France. His wife, 39, is also in France, but it’s not immediately known she is with his husband. The French couple said they would come back to Seoul late this month to help with the investigation into the case, police officers said.

The babies are believed to have been killed at least eight to nine months ago. "At least, the infants were not abandoned this year. It might have happened a long time ago," a police officer said on condition of anonymity. The South Korean police plan to ask their France counterparts to cooperate with the investigation, he added.
Seoul, Aug. 7 (Yonhap News)

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