Uncovering the Chonan Kidnaping Case on 'Tails of Tales': 40 Missing Cable Ties and Untold Crimes

The day evil men treated murder like a hunt was revealed.

On the 13th, the SBS program "Tails of Tales" tracked the murder cases that threw a region into terror in 2005 under the subtitle "The Evil Squad: Hunters of Death."

In November 2005, a husband from a family in Cheonan was kidnapped. The husband, who had said the previous night that he was going to a jjimjilbang after a company dinner, did not return by the next day, and just as worry set in, a letter arrived at the house.

On the back of someone's wedding invitation, a message was left saying, "Honey, bring 50 million won to the taxi stand. I hope you make sure I survive."

The wife who received this immediately reported it. And the detectives immediately launched an investigation. They investigated until Monday, the day money was demanded, but no particular clues emerged. Therefore, the detectives thought that the moment of delivering the money was the only opportunity to catch a clue about the culprit, and 49 detectives disguised themselves and laid low at the taxi stand.

However, the hostage taker's appearance was nowhere to be seen, and the money bag moved from person to person and place to place. In the end, the hostage taker did not appear until the end.

Consequently, the detectives investigated the people involved in moving the money bag. During that process, the owner of the restaurant where the money bag was first moved stated that two men had eaten there the previous day and asked them to store a package that would arrive the next day. Based on the restaurant owner's statement, the detectives even drew up a montage of the suspects. In addition, following the owner's statement that they had a glass of soju, they investigated the fingerprints of the suspect left on the soju bottle.

Through that process, they were able to identify a man in his mid-40s with five previous convictions, surnamed Noh. They also figured out the identity of Shim, who was close to Noh, through Noh's ex-lover. Shim had no previous convictions higher than imprisonment.

The restaurant owner confirmed that the people who came the day before and asked to keep the items were indeed Noh and Shim. Hence, the detectives tracked Noh and Shim. However, the whereabouts of the two people were untraceable.

Around that time, ominous rumors circulated throughout Cheonan and the Chungcheong region that "if you ride a nice car, you die." In fact, a series of murder cases targeting foreign car drivers was taking place in that area at the time.

Judging by the victim selection method, suppression method, and crime method, it was highly likely that this case was a serial murder case, and from the victim of an attempted robbery and injury deemed to be a serial case, it was also confirmed that the people who committed the crime against him were none other than Noh and Shim.

A month and a half after the kidnapping incident occurred, the police received contact from Shim, who knew Noh's whereabouts, and on the 39th day after the incident occurred, they succeeded in arresting Noh.

Noh, who had a murderous look in his eyes, consistently played dumb about the victim of the Cheonan kidnapping case. However, responding for the first time to the story of his son brought up by the detective, he stated that he was unrelated to the incident, that Shim committed the kidnapping, and mentioned a place where Shim had spoken of.

Afterward, the detectives discovered the body of the victim, Jung, at that location. The victim returned as a cold corpse on January 1, 2006.

A short time later, the detectives even arrested Shim, who was preparing to smuggle himself into China, and Shim stated that he kidnapped and murdered Jung along with Noh. However, Noh denied the crime until the end, and the statements of the two people conflicted.

Meanwhile, during the investigation, it was confirmed that about 40 of the cable ties used in the crime had disappeared, and the detectives were convinced there must be further unrevealed crimes. Nevertheless, with no evidence, trials for a total of six cases began: two counts of robbery-murder, one count of attempted robbery-murder, one count of robbery and injury, and two counts of special larceny.

Noh received the death penalty, and Shim received life imprisonment. Then on January 1, 2007, Noh sent a letter to Detective Kim. Detective Kim went to meet Noh, who claimed he would reveal the truth. He stated to Detective Kim that there were seven more unrevealed murders.

Three in Seoul, two in Gyeonggi Province, and two in Chungcheong Province. Moving across regions, the gang took a total of nine lives. Including robbery-murder, attempted robbery-murder, and special larceny, they committed a total of 18 crimes over 11 months starting from 2005.

Regarding Noh's sudden confession, an expert analyzed, "Noh, who was cornered by Shim's confession and saw that he himself became a death row inmate while Shim became a life prisoner, might have confessed with the mindset of 'If so, you can't get out either.'"

In fact, Noh had even made remarks about Shim such as, "I'll make you get a double life sentence so you can't get out." Thereafter, Shim seemed resigned and admitted to all the crimes, and in the process, it was revealed that Noh's biological brother and Noh's friend also participated in the crimes.

The total money extorted from the victims by those who committed indiscriminate crimes was 15 million won. They said they committed the murders because the victims saw their faces.

And when asked if they had anything to say to the victims, they made brazen remarks such as, "I have never felt sorry for the victims once, and I have no intention of feeling sorry in the future."

The final verdicts for the horrific villains were life imprisonment for Shim, life imprisonment for Noh's brother, and a seven-year prison sentence for the remaining accomplice. As for Noh, the final verdict was a dismissal of indictment due to death. Noh took his own life in the detention center after revealing his unrevealed crimes.

On the last day of his meeting with Detective Kim, Noh left behind the words, "If things go the way I want, there is a third part coming, so look forward to it." In response, an expert emphasized that "there must have been another case with a huge impact," making people look forward to uncovering their additional crimes through investigations into unsolved cases that occurred in 2005 when they committed crimes, even now.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.