The elementary school teacher suspected of stabbing her student to death was found to have looked up murder articles in the past along with information about weaponry, police said Wednesday.
Investigators of the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said they have found what appears to be evidence of the suspect surnamed Myeong, 48, planning the attack. They have searched the suspect's phone, her personal computer and three computers that she used at school.
"We've confirmed it was a premeditated crime via forensic analyses of (the suspect's) phone records, (internet) search records and other files," the police said. "We will identify the crime motive through a wide-ranging investigation into her medical records and (interviews with) her family, colleagues and friends."
Myeong is currently recovering in intensive care, having injured herself as well. She has not been questioned by police as of yet due to health concerns, as a previous attempt to interview her resulted in her blood pressure rising and necessitating her to wear an oxygen mask.
The Feb. 10 stabbing of Kim Ha-neul, an elementary school student in Daejeon, has sent shockwaves across the country. She was found unconscious at her school with a stab wound and was brought to a hospital for emergency medical treatment, but was pronounced dead later that day at around 6:35 p.m.
The victim's family decided to make public the girl's name and birthday, saying that such a tragedy should never happen again.
Myeong admitted to have killed the girl at around 9 p.m. of that day, moments before getting surgery for self-inflicted wounds on her neck.
It was found that she had suffered from depression since 2018, and used 188 days of medical leave since 2021. She had applied for leave Dec. 9 last year before returning to work later that month.
The suspect tried to choke a colleague on Feb. 6, four days before she killed the girl. The school suggested that Myeong take another leave of absence from work and requested assistance from Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education.
The Education office conducted an investigation of her attack on the colleague, but it was reported that it notified the school saying a teacher cannot take a leave of absence more than once within two years for the same disease.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
