murder at an officetel and nobody did anything about it

okay I wasn't going to post this but I work in a field where I've seen some stuff and this case from two months ago in northern Gyeonggi province still messes with me. it barely got any news coverage. I have the footage. it's bad. like, blood everywhere, can't-put-it-on-TV bad.

so the victim, Mr. Jeong, was just a regular guy in his 50s who ran a small officetel building. he had a son in his 20s. everyone in the neighborhood knew him as the nice guy. like almost annoyingly nice.

two months before it happened, this carpenter (let's call him Kim, or just "the carpenter") shows up at Mr. Jeong's building. the listed rent was 330 deposit / 60 monthly (roughly $250/mo + $2,500 deposit). the carpenter asks if he can move in at 200/30 instead. half price basically. Mr. Jeong looked at this guy, saw how rough he looked, and said yes on the spot.

that was the beginning of everything.

for a while, the carpenter was fine. polite. even greeted the elderly security guard Mr. Park every day. then he met this guy Lee.

Lee was THE local menace. drug rumors, untouchable because his hometown buddy happened to be the head of the local violent crimes unit. (yes. THAT convenient.) the carpenter started hanging around Lee and just... changed. got aggressive. erratic.

and Lee was going around OPENLY saying "if we kill Jeong and the old security guard we don't have to pay rent." like saying it out loud. to people. and the carpenter kept hanging around him anyway.

then the first incident. the carpenter had started carrying a kitchen knife in his back pocket. one day he and Lee were hitting GOLF BALLS in the hallway of the building, hitting them at Mr. Jeong. Mr. Jeong finally said "if you keep this up you need to leave." the carpenter attacked him.

all three got taken to the police station. the cops SAW the knife. Mr. Jeong begged them to keep at least one of these guys away from him. nothing happened. police said it was just "drunk violence" and that Mr. Jeong had settled with the carpenter.

(btw, Lee had literally introduced the violent crimes unit chief to Mr. Jeong and the security guard. chief showed up on the CCTV footage. just leaving that there.)

Mr. Jeong apparently did request police protection. denied.

he got the carpenter to sign something saying he'd move out by end of month.

the day of the murder.

the carpenter used white spray paint Lee gave him to disable all the CCTV cameras in the building.

then that night. Mr. Jeong ran into security guard Mr. Park and said "I think I was too hard on the carpenter. I should go apologize."

that was the last thing he ever said to him.

11:40pm. Mr. Jeong and his son go knock on the carpenter's door.

"Kim, can you come out for a sec?"

the carpenter opens the door with the chain still on. "what."

"I think I was wrong. but please stop the golf thing in the hallway."

"what did you say?"

he took the chain off. swung the door open.

"so everything I do bothers you huh."

he grabbed the kitchen knife he always carried and stabbed Mr. Jeong in the neck. hit the carotid artery. one cut. (I still can't wrap my head around this. one cut. perfectly on the carotid.)

then he went after the son. son took a huge gash to the head, backed into a corner. tried to block the knife with his arms, got cut up bad.

ten minutes later Mr. Park called the police.

Mr. Jeong died on the spot. son survived, critical injuries.

the next day I asked the detective some questions.

me: "there was already a prior assault and he was known to carry a knife. why no protective custody?"

detective: "if we protected everyone who carries a kitchen knife we'd have to protect the neighbor of every butcher shop in Korea. ridiculous."

me: "the carpenter changed after hanging out with Lee. any drug testing?"

detective: "no evidence of that so we didn't test."

me: "Lee is apparently friends with the chief of your violent crimes unit. any connection to this case?"

detective: "I don't know who Lee is. if you want to keep asking questions, leave."

and that was it. case closed. suspect caught at the scene, open and shut.

but I can't stop thinking about it.

how did a carpenter land a perfect carotid cut on the first try.

where did Lee go after the murder. neighbors say nobody's seen him since.

multiple people had seen the carpenter drooling, eyes yellowed. why didn't the cops drug test him. it takes an hour.

just. questions.