[김성재 변사사건 실화 르포②]
Photographing unclear polaroids during optometry, as a labyrinth of estimated time of death
On the afternoon of November 19, 1995, the day before his death, Kim Seong-jae took off his top clothes in the choreography practice room of the SBS Public Hall, Deungchon-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. The injection marks found on his right arm, who died the next day, are not identified on this day. Save YouTube screen
April 1993 song <나를 돌아봐>Deuce, who debuted with’Seo Taiji and Children’, was an icon of the music industry in the 1990s. While the musical basis of Seo Tae-ji and the children was rock, Deuce, made up of Kim Seong-jae and Lee Hyun-do, was a musician who consistently pursued black music based on New Jack Swing and Sol. This is why Deuce is said to be the origin of Korean hip-hop.
It has been 26 years since he left. During those indifferent years, the suspicions surrounding Kim Seong-jae’s death have not yet been resolved. This is why the Kim Seong-jae case is called the largest unsanctioned case in the Korean entertainment industry.
Among violent incidents such as murder and robbery that have attracted social attention, the police consider the case where the arrest of the suspect has not been arrested even though it has been more than 6 months in practice as an unprecedented case. According to the crime statistics of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in 2019, 808 of the total number of murders (including both jockeys and attempts) were arrested, and 41 cases remained unsanctioned.
The bereaved family of Kim Sung-jae still lives in pain today. The sudden death of the eldest son, who was the most serious, caused the life of the family to fall. Because he did not know who the killer was or the reason for his death, he could not even let the dead completely go. Korean society should look back on whether there were any problems with the investigation at the time so that this tragedy does not repeat itself. In particular, the case of Seong-jae Kim is a representative case of awakening the importance of the first police investigation. The problem of the autopsy system at the time when the case was plunged into a labyrinth did not change much today. Issues such as rejection or adoption of expert testimony are also valid. All are public interest values that should be pointed out in the case of Kim Seong-jae.
For the past 1 year and 6 months, in order to find out the truth of the day, I reviewed more than 3,000 pages of related documents such as investigation and trial records, newspapers and magazine articles at the time, and interviewed with inquiry and court officials at the time. I met bereaved family members and acquaintances, and sought advice from forensic scientists and doctors. The lawyers of former girlfriend Kim Seong-jae, who were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial, were finally confirmed innocent in the Supreme Court, also contacted several times. Now, let’s take a look at the truth of death that shocked Korean society 26 years ago. _Editor’s note
Serial order
① The night of fate (http://h21.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/49784.html)
② Injection marks on the right arm
<주요 등장인물>
K Kim Seong-jae’s girlfriend
L Seongjae Kim Manager
Noah Ryu, Seongjae Kim, Back Dancer
Mi-seung Yuk, Seong-jae Kim’s mother
Oh ○○ Seoul Western Police Station Detective
○○ Corpse optometrist
On the dawn of November 20, 1995, former member of the popular group’Deuce’ Kim Seong-jae was found dead in a dorm. It was the day after the successful solo debut stage. Manager L and backdancer Noah Ryu, who were together at the hostel, took an ambulance and moved Seongjae to a nearby hospital, but they had already died. Sungjae’s girlfriend K received a phone call from Ryu Noah at 7:40 this morning. “Sister, Sungjae hyung is dead. Come soon.”
“Hey, what kind of joke are you doing so badly in the morning?” Said K.
“Sister, really. My sister contacted Seongjae’s mother and come to the morgue of Serim Nursing Hospital as soon as possible.”1
After talking with Noah Ryu, K called to Seongjae’s mother, Miseung Yuk.
“do not be surprised. do not be surprised. Mr. Seongjae is dead.”
“Hey, where was Seongjae injured?”
“No. Noah got a call. Please come to Serim Nursing Hospital as soon as possible. I’m going now.”
“… .” Mi-seung Yuk, who could not know what was going on, could not say anything.
“Don’t be surprised, do not be surprised”
“Don’t be surprised, don’t be surprised.” K, who hung up on the phone, left his home in Yeouido S Apartment and got a taxi. The time I arrived at Serim Nursing General Hospital (currently Dongshin Hospital) in Hongeun-dong, Seoul, was just past 8 am. It was less than 30 minutes after talking to Noah Ryu. In addition to Kim Sung-jae’s senior manager, Jeong Jae-moon, there were back dancers Ryu Noah, manager L, management company CEO Kim Dong-gu, and Kim Jin-woo, who later became famous as’Jinusion’. At that time, the on-call doctor instructed the nurse to take the body temperature after performing an electrocardiogram on the body according to custom. The emergency room nurse measured the body temperature and wrote it on the record at 36 degrees.2 Afterwards, the body was moved to the morgue. At this time, the morgue staff looked at the upper body of the body, but could not find the discolored place. 3 Dong-gu Kim, the representative of the agency, decided to set the morgue as Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul, close to the broadcasting company. The party arrived at the hospital less than 11 am. K said to Noah Ryu, who was left in the car. “Because I went home at 3:40.” 4 I didn’t even ask when I went home, but Ryu Noah was puzzled by K who said it first. 5 Other than Ryu Noah, no one is confirmed to have heard this from K. At the same time, Mi-Seung Yuk from his home in Pyeongchon, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, took a taxi and arrived at the Serim Nursing Hospital belatedly. After searching the hospital, the body had already been moved to Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital. Mi-Seung Yuk turned to a nearby lodge. The remaining backdancers and others told me about Seongjae when they discovered Seongjae. With vague hope, I went to St. Mary’s Hospital. When Mi-Seung Yuk arrived at the funeral, K was crying. “Mother, Mr. Seongjae is dead. I will live with my mother until the end.” Mi-Seung Yuk replied to K’s words with no bottom or end. “Why do I live with you?” At this time, Mi-Seung Yuk asked, “When did you come out of Seongjae Dormitory?” K said, “So, I came out at 5 o’clock. Even if I had been there a little longer, this would not have happened… Miseung Yuk said that he answered. 6 Nobody heard this from K other than Miseung Yuk. K has consistently stated that he left the hotel at 3:40 am since the police investigation.
Kim Sung-jae’s corpse examination book obtained alone. Photo of the right arm injection mark on the optometrist written on the day of death. At that time, the police who were admitted to the optometrist photographed the corpse with a polaroid camera, which was a fatal mistake that put the estimated time of death into a labyrinth. Provide bereaved family
No sign of trespassing and no evidence of crime
At that time, Lee Seok-chae, head of the detective section of the Seoul Western Police Department (West), who received a report that the incident had occurred in the jurisdiction, was immediately dispatched to the Swiss Grand Hotel in Hong Eun-dong, along with the chief criminal officer Kang Seok-hwan, the inspector Bong-gyu Gong, the chief officer Yeo In-geun, and Kim Young-dong. Director Oh ○○ headed to Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital, where the corpse-placement information was obtained. Detectives and police officers on duty wrote a report on the occurrence of the case involving the police officer, the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the deputy head of the police department, and the head of the criminal department as radio lines and filed an official letter. Detectives from the west who arrived at the scene searched living rooms, kitchens, toilets, ventilators, trash cans, three bedrooms, etc., outside the entrance door, stairs, outside the annex, parking lot, and garden, but found no signs of trespassing and evidence of crime. Meanwhile, Sungga Clinic surgeon Lee ○○ received a request for a body examination from the police, departed Singil-dong Hospital, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and arrived at the morgue of Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital where the body was enshrined at 2 pm. Optometry is a visual inspection of the dead body, and it is an important procedure to determine the cause of death by estimating the time of death and trauma observation. Optometry is performed in the place where the body is placed. When viewed by the optometrist, the corpse was stiff, and the siban, a pale or dark purple spot that can be seen on the corpse’s skin after death, was formed only on the back. When the heartbeat is stopped after death, the blood is settled into the capillaries below the body due to the action of gravity, and the outer epidermal layer of the part is colored. There was no special trauma other than stiffness and Sivan. However, it was noticeable that only the right arm had several injection marks. There were also not a few subcutaneous bleeding around the injection marks. Having a subcutaneous bleeding meant that he had been injected while he was alive. The optometrist measured the number and size of the injection marks one by one. In total, 15 (which increased to 28 during the autopsy later) were distributed along the vein. From the needle marks they found, they seemed to have been placed in one place at the same time. Had it been at the same time, it would have taken less than 30 minutes. Of course, it was not known if they were injected with the same syringe. Also, I don’t know if he intended it or not, but he misplaced all intravenous injections.7 When an optometrist found 15 injection marks on Kim Seong-jae’s body, Kim Seong-jae’s death, which seemed only to be a sudden death, turned into questionable death. It was the beginning of the Kim Seong-jae case.
Kim Sung-jae in mid-November 1995, while conducting active media interviews ahead of his solo debut stage. Even now, 26 years later, it is showing a sophisticated style. Hankyoreh materials
Optometrist, estimated death time 7:05 am
The optometrist, at 7:5 a.m. at the estimated time of death, while the optometrist was filling out the cadaver optometrist, director Oh ○○ photographed the corpse with a polaroid camera. Nine pictures that were instantly printed were compiled together with the cadaver. It was a fatal mistake that put the estimated time of death in a labyrinth, taking a body shot with a polaroid camera in the afternoon half a day after his death. Due to the characteristics of Polaroid cameras, the subject’s shadow appears darker than that of a general camera, and it was difficult to estimate the time of death with only printed photographs because it was in the afternoon with low illumination. On the basis of the fact that the cornea was not cloudy during optometrists, stiffness of the corpse, and pupils, the optometrist estimated the time of death to be 7:05 on the morning of the day. 8:30 is usually 4 hours or 4 hours after death. Based on the fact that it is generated within 12 hours, the time of death of Kim Seong-jae was estimated to be around 7 am. During optometry, the rectal temperature inside the anus was not measured. Since it was half a day after death, there was a high possibility that the measurement was unnecessary, but it is regrettable that if the rectal temperature was measured immediately after the incident, the error in estimating the time of death would have been narrowed. In forensic medicine, it is believed that the time of death can be estimated with an error within an hour by measuring the temperature of the rectum with constant conditions and little external influence. In that it is possible to determine who Kim Sung-jae was with when he died, the estimated time of death was one of the key issues in the Kim Sung-jae murder trial that lasted for two years and three months. On the afternoon of the afternoon when the corpse seizure pool for autopsy was issued, the Western Criminal Division requested an autopsy of the corpse to the National Forensic Research Institute (now the National Institute for Scientific Investigation). The Gugak Tree notified that it would undergo an autopsy at 10:20 am on the 21st, the next day. Around this time, reporters in the west were informed of the accident of Kim Seong-jae. The police said that Kim Seong-jae was found as a corpse at the Swiss Grand Hotel Hong Eun-dong, and according to the manager L’s statement, the possibility of a heart attack cannot be ruled out. Announced that it did. Kim Sung-jae’s obituary spread quickly. The unexpected death of the best idol of the time brought the Korean entertainment industry upside down. Deuce fans were in great shock. Because of the police investigation of the survivors at the funeral this afternoon, Mi-seung Yuk could only go to the morgue to see Seongjae in the evening. Seongjae was lying there. I looked at Seongjae and said,’Open your eyes. Isn’t that a lie?’ I asked in my heart. “Why is the kid who was so happy that he made his solo debut? Why? Did he die suddenly? Why? Seongjae!”
Police, manager’s home seizure and search
Seong-jae’s younger brother Seong-wook, who is serving in the military, also came to the vacancy that evening. Seong-wook, his younger brother in military uniform, cried in front of Seongjae’s Youngjeong. Lee Hyun-do, who worked as a Deuce member with Sungjae, was on the plane at that time. I cried all night and got on the plane to Seoul with a swollen face. On that day, the western part of the court confiscated and searched room 57 of the Swiss Grand Hotel Annex with a warrant issued by the court. No special matters such as objects, medicines or syringes related to the cause of death were found. The police also seized manager L’s home on that day, but found no clues regarding the incident. So the first day of the incident was ending. The autopsy scheduled for the next day meets an unexpected ambush… . Reporter Oh Seung-hoon [email protected] Co-planning Fact Story *Next week’s Really Zoom-deuce Kim Seong-jae case ③ Leads to the article.
1. K police statement. At this time, Noah Ryu stated in a prosecution investigation that K, who made a cry immediately saying’Sungjae is dead!’, without questioning the words that his lover had died. No one has heard of K’s reactions other than Noah Ryu.
2. The on-call doctor who was present as a witness at the second trial trial said, “There are cases where the body temperature is not measured if it is judged to be definitely dead.” “It is possible that the nurse did not actually measure two or three times in 10 times and recorded it formally at that time. It is big”.
3. Statement by the second trial for morgue staff
4. Noah Ryu’s statement by police and prosecutors
5. Prosecutor Noah Ryu’s statement at the first trial
6. Miseung Yuk, <말하자면>, WeMedia, 1998
7. Lee ○○ 2nd Trial Statement
8. Lee ○○ 2nd Trial Statement