Police said the man identified as Chang, 35, laced a drinking water container with the poison and left it in the refrigerator at his house in Daejeon, on the morning of Aug. 18. His wife identified as Kim, 34, and two older sons, 10 and eight, who were in the habit of drinking water when they woke up, succumbed to the poison in the living room. Chang then strangled the four-year-old youngest son, who had not drunk the water, in the kitchen.

Chang told police he failed in every business he attempted, including a supermarket, optician’s and a cell phone dealership that left him W35 million (US$35,000) in debt. After murdering his family, he doused his home in petrol and set it on fire to destroy the evidence. Neighbors said he was heard wailing, “What good is it if all are dead but me?”

But police quickly got on to Chang when the National Institute of Scientific Investigation found the three had been poisoned. They uncovered evidence that Chang had been surfing suicide websites and had taken out two life insurance policies for W300 million each in his wife’s name in early August.

(englishnews@chosun.com )