The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 55

A Rising Prosecutor – 55 (55/341)

Planning (3)

“Was there any evidence obtained from the initial investigation?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, it seems not.”

It was a pity, but this was the same as before.

The Judge didn’t even show a hint of leaving any evidence behind.

“Is there no possibility of securing additional evidence?”

“If we couldn’t get any evidence from the initial investigation, the chances are almost zero.”

The two men who heard my words expressed their disappointment repeatedly.

“Of course, there might be cases where we secure testimonies from nearby witnesses through additional inquiries or find something by reviewing CCTV footage, but it’s best not to expect too much.”

“I see.”

The two figures listening to me about the situation at the investigation headquarters were PD [Production Director] Song Jae-hoon and reporter Park Soo-hyung.

Of course, Park Soo-hyung here is reporter Park Soo-hyung from the political and social affairs desk.

It was our second secret meeting to create a target for the Judge case.

Like the first time, we gathered at my secret officetel [a multi-purpose building with residential and commercial units], but the difference was that a victim of the seventh Judge case had occurred in the meantime.

However, as I just said, the police still haven’t found a single piece of evidence from the culprit.

It was expected, but it was becoming clear that we couldn’t trace the Judge’s tracks through ordinary investigations.

As planned, we had no choice but to plan the case ourselves.

“Is everything you prepared last time ready?”

“Yes. After further investigating the guy the prosecutor gave us a profile of, he perfectly matches the target of the Judge’s crimes.”

“That’s a relief.”

It had to be.

I had been more focused on this than the investigation, and after much deliberation, I had decided on this person.

The person I marked as the Judge’s target was a man named Yoo Dong-hyun, a heinous criminal who not only beat his girlfriend to death but also dismembered her body, buried it in his own field, and even covered it with cement to conceal the fact.

But what’s unbelievable is that this guy only received three years in prison.

The statutory penalty for murder is death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for five years or more, while the statutory penalty for injury resulting in death is imprisonment for three years or more.

However, the court accepted Yoo Dong-hyun’s claim that he accidentally killed his girlfriend in a fight, rather than intentionally, and acknowledged injury resulting in death instead of murder.

And after two trials, Yoo Dong-hyun, despite being a criminal who not only killed someone but also abandoned a body, was sentenced to only three years in prison.

It was the minimum sentence he could receive under the statutory penalty.

Listening to this, reporter Park Soo-hyung let out a disbelieving laugh and asked.

“How on earth does this kind of result come about?”

“They greatly relaxed the sentencing standards.”

When I confirmed this case, I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

“According to Article 53 of the Criminal Act, if there are extenuating circumstances in the commission of a crime, the judge may, at their discretion, reduce the sentence. But this bastard completely played his cards right.”

“How so…?”

“He claimed it was accidental after beating her to death when he found out his girlfriend was cheating on him. In fact, according to his testimony, he beat her to death a few days after finding out, so it’s hard to see it as accidental after this much time has passed. But the court judged it as accidental.”

“Huh.”

“According to the judgment, he also appealed that he was intoxicated and in a state of mental impairment, and that he had reached an agreement with the victim’s family.”

“He reached an agreement with the victim’s family?”

“Yes. It turns out that the victim had gone to live with her mother when her parents separated in the first grade of elementary school, and since her parents didn’t divorce and her mother passed away, legally, only her father remained as the victim’s sole family member. But he gave that father only 50 million won [approximately $37,000 USD] and reached an agreement. The family doesn’t want him to be punished.”

“The victim’s father received only 50 million won and said he didn’t want him to be punished?”

“He apparently said that the living must go on. In fact, he received 50 million won for his daughter, with whom he had no contact for nearly 20 years, so he probably thought he had gotten some easy money.”

“Hehehe.”

Reporter Park Soo-hyung and PD Song Jae-hoon let out hollow laughs.

It must be an unbelievable fact.

But all of this was true.

“To make matters worse, he even hired a special team of lawyers. Former chief judge, former chief prosecutor, even a former deputy chief prosecutor, a complete elite team.”

“How on earth did a guy like that get the money…?”

“That guy was a host bar player [a male entertainer who provides companionship and entertainment to female customers].”

“Ah.”

“After hiding his girlfriend’s body, he shamelessly worked as a host bar player for several years and managed to hook a rich madam. It seems that all the settlement money and lawyer fees came from that woman.”

The two listening lost their words.

“In the end, it’s no different from reducing his sentence with money.”

Speaking of a fact that I was ashamed to say as a prosecutor, this guy received a five-year sentence in the first trial and appealed.

The prosecution appealed because the sentence was too light, and the defendant appealed because the sentence was too heavy.

As a result of the second trial, he received a three-year sentence.

And to top it off, he was even paroled as an exemplary prisoner with about eight months left on his sentence.

Ironically, although absurd, all of this is not legally wrong.

What’s even more infuriating is that, according to the principle of double jeopardy, there is no legal basis to punish him again after eight months, once his sentence is confirmed.

“For these reasons, I, even though I am a prosecutor, thought the sentence was inappropriate and selected him as a target for the Judge’s crime.”

Before I could finish speaking, reporter Park Soo-hyung slammed the table.

“I want to take this guy down even if I have to write an article about it. You chose very well.”

PD Song Jae-hoon, who was trying to maintain neutrality with a sense of justice, gritted his teeth and said, as if he wanted to side with the Judge this time.

“It’s frustrating just listening to this, how much resentment must the victim have in the afterlife? I really feel like letting the Judge judge him.”

I swallowed a bitter smile.

“I feel the same way, but what can we do? Even we can’t control people’s lives. As PD Song Jae-hoon said at the beginning, we must do our best to prevent the Judge from killing the target.”

“Haa.”

PD Song Jae-hoon sighed deeply and nodded.

“That’s right. The prosecutor is right.”

However, reporter Park Soo-hyung, unable to shake off his anger, swept back his hair and said gruffly.

“Really, South Korea is a great country to live in if you have money. You can kill someone and only get three years in prison.”

The atmosphere was getting too heated, so I felt the need to cool down for a moment.

“Okay, okay, calm down and let’s go back to planning the program. First of all, it’s about the timing of the program’s broadcast. PD Song, how long will it take you to completely prepare for the program broadcast?”

“Since the judgment has already been made, I can complete the editing in as little as ten days, or at most fifteen days.”

“By then, the murderer’s cooling-off period will probably be coming to an end.”

“That’s right. The problem is that by then, he will have already decided on the next target.”

“The culprit’s cooling-off period is getting shorter, but to be safe, it would be best to broadcast it right after the eighth murder occurs.”

Currently, the Judge’s cooling-off period is from two weeks to nearly three weeks.

If we prepare now and broadcast the program before the crime, the impact on the Judge, who has already set a target, is likely to be small.

So, it would be more appropriate to broadcast when the cooling-off period is about to start again, rather than when he is burning hot.

That way, the Judge will see this broadcast and set a new target.

“Then, let’s broadcast as soon as possible after the eighth murder.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Reporter Park Soo-hyung raised his hand and asked.

“Then, should I focus on writing articles that stimulate the Judge from now on and then shift the focus to that criminal after the broadcast?”

“Yes. Then the Judge will naturally pay attention to Yoo Dong-hyun.”

According to the profilers’ analysis, the Judge is a person who is thirsty for attention.

That’s why he leaves notes at the crime scene and even reveals that he is judging.

But a reporter who has been pouring attention on him, a reporter who produces high-profile articles that are a hot topic on the internet, suddenly turns his attention to another criminal overnight?

From the Judge’s point of view, he will naturally have curiosity and jealousy about him and will have no choice but to pay attention.

Even if the Judge doesn’t know about Park Soo-hyung, we have a secret weapon prepared to capture his attention.

It was safe to say that it was definitely possible to make him pay attention to Park Soo-hyung.

That way, even if the Judge misses the live broadcast of , he will look it up, and he will naturally learn about Yoo Dong-hyun.

Then, it’s only a matter of time before Yoo Dong-hyun is caught as the Judge’s target.

Before that, we need to understand Yoo Dong-hyun’s movements and surrounding circumstances in advance and complete perfect preparations to arrest the Judge on the spot.

If we lie in wait and pounce on the Judge when he appears to commit the crime, the game is over.

It was a perfect plan.

“For now, about this much…”

Beep beep beep.

The phone suddenly rang.

The caller was none other than the Joint Investigation Headquarters of the Police and Prosecutors.

I got up from my seat and asked for their understanding.

“Please wait a moment. I think I need to take this because it’s the investigation headquarters.”

I moved to a corner and pressed the call button.

“Yes, this is Choi Seo-joon.”

-Prosecutor, I’m sorry for calling you late. The police on patrol have just sent us some information.

“Tell me.”

-We found a black box video that captured the culprit.

“Black box?”

-Yes. It was attached to the vehicle at the time of the incident, and it seems the Judge passed by without knowing it.

Nice!

Even if she’s a monster, she’s still human.

She couldn’t have been perfect while handling seven cases.

“Tell me about the appearance.”

-We can’t confirm the exact clothes because it’s at night, but the hair is below the shoulders, exactly between the shoulder blades and the shoulders.

“Does that mean it’s a woman?”

-Of course, there is a possibility that it is a man with long hair, but we should focus on women first.”

A woman.

A laugh was about to escape.

When I first took on this case, Yoon Seol-ha said that there was a possibility that the Judge was a woman, but she’s really a woman.

I think it’s a waste that Yoon Seol-ha is still a investigator.

-The more accurate thing is that we will hand over the black box video to the National Forensic Service to scrape it further, but it seems that all we can find out is the gender and height because all that was captured was the back.

“That’s enough. Please tell them I appreciate their hard work.”

“I understand.”

“Yes. It’s late, thank you for your hard work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night.”

As soon as I hung up the phone, I saw two men with their necks stretched out, looking at me like baby birds waiting for their mother.

Questions poured out as soon as I put down my phone.

“The Judge is a woman?”

“The one who committed that heinous crime is a woman?”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down.”

I went back to their side and sat down.

“It’s not certain, but there’s a high possibility that it’s a woman. There’s still a possibility that it’s a man with long hair.”

“Working with the prosecutor, very interesting information is coming in.”