A man in his 50s is currently being investigated for the murder of his father, following his arrest at the funeral earlier this week.
According to a report by Yonhap News TV on Monday, officials at the Seoul Gangseo Police Station transferred the case to the prosecution on July 1.
The suspect himself reported the death to the police around 6:30 p.m. on that day, telling the officers that his father — who reportedly was suffering from dementia — passed away while in bed.
But an analysis on the deceased conducted by the National Forensic Service turned up evidence of assault, such as fractured vertebrae. Police arrested the suspect at the father's funeral on July 3.
Police are authorized to arrest a suspect without a warrant if they have cause to believe them guilty of a crime punishable by at least three years in prison, and if the suspect presents a risk of flight or destroying evidence.
The suspect denies killing his father. He said that the two had a physical struggle over the issue of dressing him, but that his father then went to sleep after getting drunk and he later found him dead.
Patricide carries a harsher punishment than ordinary murders. The minimum sentence is seven years in prison, more than the five years in prison for other type of murders.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
