In Brave Detective 5, detectives relentlessly chased down criminals who committed crimes for money and rooted them out.
On the March 3 broadcast of T-cast E Channel Brave Detective 5 (directed by Lee Ji-seon), episode 2 featured Kim Myeon-jung, head of the criminal investigation division at Incheon Michuhol Police Station; former commissioner Yoon Oechul of the scientific investigation unit (KCSI); and Inspector Kim Jin Soo, who appeared and revealed investigation logs. Before introducing the case, Yoon Dujun said, "Prepare your mobile phones and focus." Detective Kim revealed a case in which a man in his 30s whose location was identified by a photo posted in an open chat room assaulted a woman in her 20s. He added, "Location information is stored in photos, and the information remains even if you post them in a chat room," and emphasized, "Be careful when uploading or sending photos to social media. It is safer to change the settings so location information is not saved."
The full-scale case began when the name Jung In-suk, who had been at the center of political scandals in the 1960s, was mentioned. With the mysterious death of Jung In-suk, who had been a secret service attendant, it was announced that her son would appear in that day's case. The case for which Detective Kim Myeon-jung received a request for support while he was in the organized crime investigation unit involved a golf course owner who had arrived from Japan, his son and a driver: the three disappeared just after leaving the airport in front of a crosswalk. At the time, CCTV captured a white vehicle with part of its license plate obscured carrying them away.
The vehicle had been rented the day before the abduction, and the registered owner was confirmed to be a gang boss wanted on murder charges. However, during Detective Kim's verification process it emerged that the man's resident registration card had been stolen, and the case took an unexpected turn. The case was converted into a public investigation, and three hours after news coverage it was reported that the victims had escaped. Detective Kim, suspicious, went to the local police substation, and the golf course owner said, "I wasn't kidnapped; I was arrested by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on espionage charges." He said that as soon as he got into the car his eyes were blindfolded, his hands were cuffed, and he was taken to a pension in one area, but someone loosened the cuffs and he escaped.
Although suspicions of a "staged plot" were raised, Detective Kim, unconvinced by the appearance of the NIS, pursued inquiries and, through analysis of tollgate passage records and CCTV, confirmed the existence of a suspicious additional vehicle with an obscured license plate following the kidnap vehicle. At the pension, evidence of prior rental and traces of multiple people were found, revealing it was not a simple happening. After tracking the vehicle, they identified a vehicle leased to a law firm in Gangnam, where they encountered a lawyer who had formerly served as a senior prosecutor in charge of past investigations. The lawyer knew about the related golf course and said he believed the kidnapping was "a staged plot," mentioning the golf course owner's maternal uncle. The uncle had taken out a huge loan against the golf course land, embezzled the funds and served time in prison. He denied knowing anything, but during the third round of questioning the team extracted a confession from the lawyer, and the uncle later admitted to the crime.
Investigators found the uncle had taken the golf course owner's corporate seal and tried to dispose of the golf course, and that he had even planned to kill and dispose of the body depending on the circumstances. The uncle had aimed for 350 billion won, and it was revealed he intended to give 150 billion won of that to Mr. Jung, the son of Jung In-suk. The lawyer had introduced Mr. Jung to the uncle as the CEO of a foreign financial company, which was a fraud. Mr. Jung had deceived the uncle into believing the golf course owner had borrowed 200 billion won from him, and the uncle had said he would repay the money if the golf course was sold. It was revealed that Mr. Jung planned to create a fake shareholder list and sell the golf course.
The lawyer, a former senior prosecutor, designed surveillance by agents disguised as NIS operatives, a fake arrest warrant and even the theft of a crime boss's ID. He was especially criticized because he was also the brother of a city councilor who commissioned a contracted killing introduced earlier on Brave Detective. Profiler Kwon Il-yong said, "It's money that is like an illusion, with an unclear substance. They were blinded by money." The uncle was sentenced to two years, the lawyer to four years and Mr. Jung to three years in prison.
Next, KCSI introduced a case in which the perpetrator told the victim, "I am going to kidnap the young woman today," and then committed the crime. The case began with a report from a man who said he had lost contact with his sister. The sister, who had been at her boyfriend's house, disappeared after a final message that she would head home, and her phone was turned off. The disappearance of a woman in her 20s raised the possibility of a violent crime, and the investigation team immediately checked financial records. They found that about four hours after the last contact, 900,000 won was withdrawn from an ATM, and the case was reclassified as a violent crime. CCTV captured a man wearing a mask and hat, and the investigation team immediately began tracking him.
During the investigation, CCTV captured a shadow with a bulge on the top of the vehicle's roof, and using this clue they identified the suspect vehicle as a taxi. On the fifth day after the missing-person report, a decomposed female body was found on the shoulder of a highway, and the victim was confirmed to be the missing sister. The autopsy determined death by asphyxiation due to neck compression, and signs of sexual crime were also revealed.
Through analysis of nearby CCTV, investigators confirmed repeated movement patterns of a suspicious taxi, and a man in his 40s with four prior convictions including special robbery was identified as the prime suspect. He testified that he committed the crime because taxi fare remittances were overdue. After hearing chilling words, when the victim tried to flee he forcibly put her back in the car and continued the crime. The perpetrator, who submitted a letter of remorse, said in court, "If the victim hadn't resisted, I wouldn't have killed her," as an excuse. Ahn Jung-hwan said, "How could she not resist? That makes no sense," expressing anger. The suspect was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Brave Detective 5 airs every Friday at 9:50 p.m., and is also available on major OTT platforms such as Netflix, TVing and wavve. Viewers can also find lively news and videos about the program on E Channel's official YouTube and Instagram.
Also, E Channel's original web variety show series Hyungsooda, which expands the Brave Detective universe, covers detectives' investigative backstories, behind-the-scenes of violent cases and true stories of South Korean death row inmates whose executions were carried out, and is released every Friday at 7 p.m. on the YouTube channel "Detectives' Chat."
[photo] E Channel
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