A 20-year veteran detective charged with killing his mother has confessed that the allegedly botched insurance fraud attempt was initially his suggestion, police said Sunday, in a case that is shaking the country’s faith in police,

The suspect, surnamed Lee, initially said Saturday that the spinal insurance fraud was first conspired by his mother to cover the 20 million won ($17,930) personal debt under her name.

But police officials at the Dunsan Police Station said Lee later retracted this initial statement saying he “was the first to offer insurance fraud as an idea,” but that he “did not know she was going to die.”

According to officials, Lee had his mother swallow three sleeping pills sometime around 9 p.m. on Jan. 21 and left the house. He broke into his mother’s house later that night at 11:27 p.m. wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying a bowling ball he had prepared beforehand.

Lee then turned his mother on her stomach, and repeatedly dropped the bowling ball on his sleeping mother’s spine. Afterward, the decorated officer tied the 68-year-old with tape and vandalized the apartment to give the appearance of a robbery. According to police, Lee’s mother suffered six broken ribs and died of shock from blood loss some five hours later, raising questions as to why Lee had not called emergency services.

The police recovered the helmet, traced the clothes and bowling ball to where they were purchased and used the CCTV footage to confirm the identity of Lee.

Officials are still looking into the credibility of Lee’s claim that he had conspired with his mother, whether or not the death was deliberate, and the pair’s financial background.

Police charged Lee with the assault and homicide of his mother, and issued an arrest warrant Sunday.

In earlier questioning, Lee said his mother had first offered the insurance fraud idea saying “they will give 50 million won for a level three back disability insurance plan,” but he gave a reverse testimony in a subsequent written confession, saying that it was he who had offered the idea.

This is the latest in a string of cases that have raised outcry about the morality of the police. Former police chief Kang Hee-rak was arrested last Thursday on charges of receiving kickbacks from a contractor in exchange for influence-peddling. In late December, five police officers in Seoul were given jail time for torturing suspects.

By Robert Lee (rjmlee@heraldcorp.com)