Confession Statement of Father Unable to Write His Own Name Confirmed as Fabricated

Evidence has emerged suggesting that the confession statement of a father sentenced to life imprisonment for a case 14 years ago in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, in which two residents died after drinking makgeolli laced with potassium cyanide (a potent poison), was fabricated. The first hearing to determine whether the truth can be revealed—a retrial, the procedure of re-examining a finalized verdict—was held last Tuesday.

In July 2009, four residents in a village in Suncheon shared makgeolli, and two of them died. Prosecutors argued that the daughter and her husband committed the crime out of resentment after their illicit relationship was exposed. The daughter was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison and the father to life imprisonment, and they have been serving their sentences for 14 years. Throughout their 14 years of incarceration, the pair have consistently sought a retrial. The case was covered three times by the investigative program 'I Want to Know That,' and public suspicions were raised through in-depth reporting by Seo Hyung, the writer of 'Broken Arrow.'

Retrial specialist attorney Park Joon-young cited the roughly 11 hours of interrogation footage in the prosecution's case files as the reason he decided to take on the retrial. The statement contained detailed accounts of the crime, and the statements of the co-defendants matched each other, leading even the Supreme Court at the time to conclude that it contained "statements that could only have been made by the perpetrator." However, attorney Park pointed out that the suspects in the footage actually denied the crime substantially often. The footage differed from the contents of the written statements. Attorney Park analyzed that the prosecutors and investigators employed interrogation techniques involving providing information and leading questions, coaxing, pressuring, and deception. Based on this, he concluded that the confession statement had been fabricated.

The content and handwriting of the father's handwritten statement are inconsistent. Mr. Baek was arrested on August 26, 2009, and two handwritten statements dated August 25, the day before his arrest, and September 5 of the same year were confirmed. The statements contained the words 'If my daughter admits to it, then I admit it too, I admit it,' but the writing is so crooked and scrawled that it appears to be the work of someone unable to properly write even 'yes' or 'no.'

Attorney Park Joon-young, who won retrials in the Nakdong River murders, the Iksan Yakchon Intersection murder case, and the Hwaseong serial murders, took on this case and launched the retrial after personally reviewing the records. As suspicions of a fabricated confession statement become a matter of public debate and the hearing to determine whether a retrial will proceed begins, weight is being added to the possibility that retrials may be held even in cases with finalized verdicts.