Man arrested for murder after hiding his wife’s body in car trunk for months

A man in his 40s has been arrested for murdering his wife and keeping her body hidden in the trunk of his car for approximately two and a half months.

The Suwon Jungbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced on Thursday that it had taken a 47-year-old man into custody on charges of murder. He is accused of fatally beating his wife, also in her 40s, at their home in Suwon around late November 2024 and concealing her body in his car’s trunk.

The investigation began on February 3 after an acquaintance of the victim reported her missing. When police found no signs of her survival—such as activity in her credit card records or other indicators—they began treating the case as a potential homicide and assembled a 22-member task force. Authorities discovered that the couple frequently argued and obtained arrest and search warrants. The suspect was apprehended on Wednesday. Initially, the man denied involvement, telling investigators, “My wife ran away due to financial problems. I don’t know where she is.” However, after police discovered the victim’s body in his vehicle’s trunk, he confessed to the crime.

The suspect, who had been working as a day laborer, reportedly stopped working after the killing. Authorities are investigating whether he used the vehicle while the body was inside and whether he had plans to dispose of it elsewhere. “We have requested an autopsy from the National Institute of Forensic Science and are conducting a thorough investigation into the details of the case,” a police official stated.


수원=이경진기자 lkj@donga.com