Well, if things weren’t seedy enough, DNA tests on the two dead infants found in a Frenchman’s freezer in Banpo-dong revealed that the father was no other than the French homeowner himself. It also turns out that the infants were NOT identical twins. It has yet to be determined, however, where they are fraternal twins, or whether they even share the same mother.
Making things worse, the French father left the country for France on the morning of July 26. Police learned the preliminary DNA results indicating he was the father that afternoon, and received the final results on July 28. Still, I don’t see why police would not have asked him to stick around after two dead babies were found frozen in his home freezer. Then again, I’m not a lawyer…
UPDATE: The Hankyoreh is reporting that police allowed Mr. C, the French homeowner, to leave the country without OK’ing it with the prosecutors. Police explained that while Mr. C was an important figure in the investigation, up until the time the DNA results came in, he didn’t appear to be a suspect, so he wasn’t booked, and there were no regulations to prevent him from leaving the country.
According to current laws, you can place a travel ban on a foreigner if he has been booked for a crime that would earn three or more years in the pen. Police must OK the decision to allow a foreigner connected with a case to leave with the prosecutors, however.
Meanwhile, an official with the investigations told the Chosun Ilbo that it was highly possible the infants were delivered and killed outside of Mr. C’s home. They may have then been brought into Mr. C’s home, wrapped in his towels and placed in the freezer. Initially, it was believed whoever gave birth to the children did so in his bathroom, but now it appears the traces of blood found in the bathroom, veranda and living room were likely residue dripped from a decomposing body.
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, this is now going to get interesting; assuming Korea has an extradition treaty with France (does it?) don’t believe that France extradites French citizens, even when it has extradition treaties with foreign countries. So unless this foreign perpetrator of stupid tricks volunteers, it’s not likely that Inspector Clouseau Kim is going to be able to elicit testimony from one of the two people most likely to know the facts here, including the identity of the other one.
Here’s my theory on this. The French father probably had an illicit affair with one of the teens, then left her when she got pregnant. The teen gave secret birth in a non-hospital setting and the babies died soon after they were born. As a revenge, the teen put the dead babies in the French father’s fridge when he was out of town.
How’s that for a novel?
Man, poor kids.
It’s obvious the French embassy leaned on the ROK government – threatening to pull French troops out if they tried to arrest the guy. I’m just suprised this ever made the news in the first place. Everybody knows the French and ROK government covers up these and the Frenchmen just fly away to Paris, and there is nothing Korea can do about it.
“covers up these and worst crimes”
Holy cow. This is a most interesting case! And once again, the Korean National Police cover themselves with glory in an investigation involving foreigners. Oops, he got away. Again. Their desultory performance in this and other matters ought to be added to the list of “non-trade” barriers to foreign investment: Where a foreigner is the victim of a crime here in Korea, nobody gives a damn. One of my friends is an AmCham governor whose kids were beaten to a pulp over Christmas by base-rat Korean-American kids, and it was like pulling teeth to get any action out of the police and prosecution. They wanted to laugh it off as horeseplay, despite the fact that the victims were hospitalized with very serious injuries. I’ve been victim of crime myself (don’t ask), I’ve broken up an assault where soldiers were beating an Aussie senseless, and then the Christmas extravaganza — Official Korea will use law to control you, and to limit you, Mr. Foreigner, but not to protect you. It’s a serious issue. No wonder there was no justice for Jamie Penich.
On extradition, regardless of whether France has an extradition treaty with Korea (I have a list of Korea’s extradition treaties somewhere on my desk from another matter), my understanding matches our friend Sperwer’s: France has a law forbidding the extradition of French citizens. It’s undoubtedly part of the reason why Daewoo founder Kim Woo-Choong got himself French citizenship in 1987 — indeed, Kim was a real visionary — and enjoyed a “fugitive” lifestyle in the South of France. If “Mr. C” is a killer, he will not be brought to justice. The Koreans will poke at him a bit, and then shrug their shoulders. They’ve got bigger fish to fry, like finding out which current rich guy’s father or grandfather collaborated with the Japanese. (The terrifying answer? All of them.)
Qu’ils mangent du bébé!
Kevin
Korean Police force reminds me of Keystone Kops.
Do these guys get any training at all?
Question: why did he report this to the police? Assuming he committed the crime (something of an assumption: two parents provide DNA to a child, and the list of murderers is not limited to those two), why report the crime for which he is guilty? Why not simply disappear to France, and let the crime be discovered much later?
s/b ‘list of possible murderers’ above…
What a very unfortunate story. I am sure the Koreans will be protesting in front of the US Embassy before long.
Tonight on CSI:Pohang, officer Kim leaves DNA sample in pojang macha, officer Park takes nap in patrol car, and officer Lee allows foreigner to flee country because he no speakuh Buh-ren-chee.
brendon,
i hate to read your posts sometimes, because they tend to confirm all the worst things i fear go on in this country.
what is a base-rat korean-american kid?
The Yongsan Army Garrison’s population of very good American kids (most of whom are half-Koreans) also includes a few horrible punks. Normally the military-dependent kids are really straight, well-mannered and sensible (like their parents) but of course some teenagers have to rebel — and overseas they can get a feeling of impunity because there is/has been no American criminal justice system for non-military (other than being sent back “home” to America), and the local authorites (i) don’t speak English, and (ii) don’t really care if the victim is also American. So there are teenage “rumbles” from time to time, or sprees of anti-social behavior like vandalism and petty theft. But “punity” works: American teenager Michael Fay got himself caned for spray-painting grafitti on cars in Singapore (1994) — haven’t heard much about American kids in trouble there lately.
i agree with cm’s theory. poor kids.
i thought that’s what you were talking about. thank you for the clear explanation.
i once ended up on a city bus sitting behind a gaggle of kids that fit your description of the good base kids. they seemed like a nice, polite, well-adjusted group. i was happy to hear one of them complain about britney spears. she felt that wearing tight clothes should not grant anyone any kind of fame. parents with kids like that deserve medals.
It sounds to me like the guy had a young girlfriend who got pregnant, got dumped, probably had the children then killed them at birth, then half out of her mind, used a pass key the guy gave her to give the kids to the father.
My guess is that the guy is in the clear criminally speaking – unless the girl is under age, but he will soon be divorced, and since it sounds like he has money, he will end up seeing most of it go to his betrayed wife.
That is my guess.
Then if the foreign girl is caught, and she did kill the two, and she is convicted, it would not suprise me to see the court give her a pass – because it seems judges in Korea have a lot of discretion when it comes to “the sense of justice” rather than hard set sentencing rules – and her being foreign, being young, in a strange country, and abandonned with 2 babies popping out – the judge will turn a blind eye to the deaths.
i wonder if the Korean press will start to do exposes on the French community in Korea. So far, we have the English teachers, who steal women and money; the American soldiers, who poison the environment and attack cab drivers; and the workers from third-world countries who bring in AIDS. What are they going to pin on the French?
Jd, the American military has, since the commencement of the all-volunteer force, stopped being representative of “America” at large. It now represents an idealized America. Men and women are in the fight together. It stands for equal opportunity regardless of race — the military is an institution where blacks command whites routinely and the organization affirmatively looks to develop talent in underrepresented groups (if you’re a smart black kid and want to be a Navy officer, stand by for all the help you can handle and then some). Immigrants are also embraced. Did you grow up speaking Spanish? You’re a proud American too: Say “Yo Soy El Army” or check out El Navy. The US military is also remarkably more religious than American society at large, while at the same time being fiercely ecumenical — respectful of all religions, including Islam and Wicca. I didn’t know all these things when I enlisted in 1989, but I am now extremely grateful to have been a part of such a group of people. (The only defect I can see right now is policy toward homosexuals, who ought to be left alone. But that, too, is coming.)
Good lord… this is too horrible to contemplate.
I’m thinking French, I’m thinking fertilized eggs, I’m thinking South Korea -hold on I’m getting a vision now…….there’s a man in a white robe standing by the freezer..he’s part of some religious…wait, he’s a Raelian…I see the wife now….she knows the man……
Whoa I’m so tired, wow, oh I’m so tired now…Marmot I’m so tired now…..ZZZzzzzz
Why does everybody throw all this stock into what the CSI is saying? Is there any proof they can actually get the results they claim they have? Are we sure they haven’t just doctored photos of the father’s DNA in photoshop for publication in the courtroom or a local newspaper? Something smells fishy. And it’s not the mackerel taken from the freezer as evidence.
Something’s always going to “smell fishy” when two dead babies are pulled out of a rich dude’s freezer.
What if the Korean police stopped this French man to leave Korea before the DNA results were announced? Wouldn’t that violate his rights to freedom of movement? On what grounds can they hold the man? If they did hold him without any evidence, somebody here would point out Korean racism against foreigners because the French man is a foreigner and they’re trying to pin this whole thing on the foreigners to make it look like the foreigner did it. If the police arrest the man before they have conclusive evidence, it’s because they made up the evidence against foreigners. If the police doesn’t arrest him, it’s because they don’t care about foreigners who are victims of crime. No matter what the police do, it’ll just come back to the race thing again.
Wow, this shite is getting weird. I think if a guy is needed for questioning in a murder investigation you have the right to keep his passport, eh? Keystone Kops indeed.
So they can’t tell the difference between an all Caucasian baby and a half-Phillipino baby With their amazing DNA technology?
Yeah starting over, like before they let the biological father flee the country is one idea.
I believe he’s just a tenant, not the owner.
That’s judging things with a very US-biased eye. Matrimonial laws are quite a bit different in France, and wimin usually can’t take their soon-to-be ex to the cleaners – unless there’s a prenup in her favour, a very small minority. A divorce means 50-50 and an allimony for the kids.
OTOH, this dude’s life has just gone north of peaceful. I dunno about money – these Pangbae dudes are mostly living on company monies, and while I’m sure they save some, only the real big machers make serious money. But on top of getting an interesting moment or two with the Missus, I don’t think his current employment – let alone another cushy expat job – is going to last long. And after being fired for gross misconduct, finding another job “Any referrals from your previous job, Sir?” is going to be a real challenge.
Stealing National Treasures™, polluting the National Genepool™ [but thankfully using modern Korean appliances to limit the damage], harbouring wanted criminals [from Mr. K. to Mr. C., a French-Korean criminal saga], and making cheese that smell worse than 청국장.
As my high school French teacher used to say, Sacré Bleu!
“So they can’t tell the difference between an all Caucasian baby and a half-Phillipino baby With their amazing DNA technology?”
Uh genius, they can’t be 100% certain who the mother is or isn’t until they analyze the suspect mother’s DNA against the baby(s)’s, which hasn’t happened yet, n’est pas? They had to get the Filipino woman’s DNA for analysis, as standard operating procedure, just to rule out any and all probabilities. I’m no forensics expert, but I would think racial categorization of DNA has a far larger margin of error than linking it to a specific person.
“We can’t leave out this possibility because blood spots that were discovered on the floor of the house could have been from the dead babies,” police said.
Don’t ya think the priority should have been determining if that blood found matches to one of the babies?
Uh bj, the police announced prior to even determining the French resident was the father that the babies were likely Caucasian. The forensic experts, as you so readily admit you are not, then proceeded to say that after DNA testing they would be able to determine the race of the babies as well as whether or not they were twins (경찰은 국립과학수사연구소로부터 넘겨받은 영아 시신 2구의 1차 부검결과에 대한 분석을 통해 숨진 영아들이 백인일 가능성이 큰 것으로 보고 있으나 정확한 인종이나 쌍둥이 여부 등은 DNA 분석 결과가 나와야 확인될 것으로 보인다.) DNA results are back. They know they are not twins. Where is the EXACT ethnicity of these children? Don’t jump on me for expecting them to live up to their word.
Uh bj, the police announced prior to even determining the French resident was the father that the babies were likely Caucasian. The forensic experts, as you so readily admit you are not, then proceeded to say that after DNA testing they would be able to determine the EXACT ethnicity of the babies as well as whether or not they were twins (경찰은 국립과학수사연구소로부터 넘겨받은 영아 시신 2구의 1차 부검결과에 대한 분석을 통해 숨진 영아들이 백인일 가능성이 큰 것으로 보고 있으나 정확한 인종이나 쌍둥이 여부 등은 DNA 분석 결과가 나와야 확인될 것으로 보인다.) DNA results are back. They know they are not twins. Where is the EXACT ethnicity of these children?
Joel, just looking at your side of it: It appears they jumped the gun and MAY have difficulty determing race/ethnicity due to the ancestry of the parents…whoever the mother may be.
It’s interesting, to me at least, the Frenchman arrives in Korea on the 18th and then reports babies found on the 23rd,(leaves on 26th) and we have blood spots found on 23-24? It seems like the Frenchman truly didn’t realize they were his babies
OR…he knew and felt trapped for some reason and created an escape plan to explain himself in the comfort of France, never to return, to family and employer.
OR (I lean towards this theory), his wife (or posssibly older child) is part of something, without his knowledge, involving the invitro fertilization of another female……..money……and religious cult.
I would like to know the age of the Frenchman’s children, and the background of his wife.
Hmmm…”Crimson Rivers” suddenly comes to mind.
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