A man in his 40s with a history of mental disorders killed himself after killing his wife and two children by hitting them with a blunt weapon. (Image : Yonhap)
GWANGJU, Jan.23 (Korea Bizwire) – A man in his 40s with a history of mental disorders killed himself after killing his wife and two children by hitting them with a blunt weapon.
His late wife was said to have mentioned that her husband often threatened to kill her when he was drunk.
‘A’, a man in his 40s, jumped from the roof of his 18-story apartment building after killing his wife (42), son (18), and daughter (11).
The police revealed that A called the police and reported that he killed his wife and children by hitting them with a blunt weapon before he jumped.
The man’s wife was found dead on the floor near the kitchen, and a weapon covered in blood was placed next to her.
His daughter was found in bed hugging her teddy bear, and his son was found lying on top of his bed, indicating that the children had been killed while sleeping.
A was found dead on the sidewalk outside the apartment.
Sleeping pills that appeared to belong to A were found in a drawer in the living room. No suicide note was found, but notes which seemed to have been written by A were found. The notes read, ‘I cannot get any sleep. I’m afraid of night for I cannot sleep. I think something is wrong with the meds I took’.
The police were faced with the difficult task of identifying the actual reason for the crime as A committed suicide.
A man in his 40s with a history of mental disorders killed himself after killing his wife and two children by hitting them with a blunt weapon. (Image : Yonhap)
However, since A had a long history of treatment for encephalopathy and depression, and the fact that his late wife had difficulties because of his abusive language, the police are looking into the causes and effects of the mental disorders and the crime.
According to the police investigation, A had been treated for encephalopathy since 2011.
Medical experts say that encephalopathy is a condition caused by car accidents or strokes, and results in the malfunction of certain parts of the brain. “It is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis without going through the individual’s medical record, but patients that have a problem in their frontal lobes sometimes show a violent tendency. A’s insomnia might have been caused by aftereffects of encephalopathy.”
A was also diagnosed with ‘complex anxiety and depression’ at another neuropsychiatry hospital in September 2015. The police believe that the crime was related to the psychiatric symptoms of A.
While interviewing acquaintances of the victims, A was said to have often threatened his wife that he would ‘kill everyone’ when he was drunk. As a result, A’s wife was said to have taken her daughter to work many times. However, there were no cases of domestic violence reported to the police from the mobile phones of A’s family.
The police are planning an autopsy of the victims to determine the cause of death.
Since ‘A, the suspect of the murder, committed suicide, the police will close the case once the cause of the deaths have been defined.
By Francine Jung (francine.jung@kobizmedia.co.kr)
