Police on Wednesday said that they were investigating the case of a dead Algerian-Korean couple whose bodies were found in Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, Tuesday.

The dominant presumption at the moment is homicide and suicide by the husband, but the possibility of murder by another person has not been ruled out, according to the police. 

An investigation from the National Forensic Service found that the Algerian wife, 32, had been strangled to death. Based on this, Gangwon Yeongwol Police said that it was “highly likely” that the husband, 48, killed the wife and hanged himself.

The couple’s bodies were discovered on Monday by a passersby who noticed a rotting smell coming from their house.

The passerby peeked through the front gate and saw the body of a dead woman in the back seat of a car parked on the front lawn.

The police who attended the scene found a man hanging from a tree at the back of the house.

Based on the degree of decomposition of both bodies, the police estimate they had been dead for at least a week.

No suicide notes were found.

The police had initially thought that the woman was pregnant, but the forensic investigation showed that she was not.

The dead couple reportedly began renting the house three years ago.

They had intermittently occupied the house until recently, when they left the house unattended for a prolonged time.

With their contract nearing expiry, the husband had verbally expressed intentions to renew the lease, but he had not made the payment yet.

It appeared the couple had refurbished the floor of the house and had the wallpapers redone.

The police said it seemed like the couple had planned to fix up the house to move in again but that after a long period of neglect the place was a long way from being fitfor habitation.



By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)