"Will I Die if I Take a Lot of Sleeping Pills?"..The Full Story of the Gangbuk Motel Murder Case Revealed by AI

Ms. Kim was found through investigation to have repeatedly asked a generative AI questions such as "What happens if you take a lot of sleeping pills?" and "Can you die from it?" before the offense.

The AI provided answers indicating the possibility of respiratory depression and death, and even though the suspect confirmed those answers, she is understood to have increased the dosage and had the victim drink a beverage containing psychotropic drugs in excess of the lethal dose.

According to the investigation, Ms. Kim committed the offense by obtaining prescriptions for psychotropic drugs such as flunitrazepam and diazepam at a hospital, crushing them, and adding them to a beverage.

In particular, the fact that she continued with additional offenses even though she had previously administered drugs to an earlier victim in the same manner and rendered that victim unconscious has become known, drawing public outrage.

The prosecution takes the view that, after forming a relationship with the victim, the suspect sought to obtain economic benefit and, in the course of severing the relationship, attempted to subdue the other party using drugs in order to avoid conflict.

However, Ms. Kim has stated that she feels wronged, saying that she "only tried to make the victim sleep out of fear" and that "the amount increased because it was a powdered drug and she did not know the dosage."

However, it is reported that the court-appointed defense counsel who had been assigned as Ms. Kim's attorney has notified the court of an intention to resign.

Murder is a crime that violates a person's life, and it is established only where there is an act that deprives another person of life.

In this case, regardless of whether the means or method of killing is tangible or intangible, direct or indirect, by act or by omission, any act that terminates a person's life is recognized as an act of killing.

In addition, murder is not recognized only where there is a clear purpose to kill or a premeditated intention.

Recent criminal investigations are rapidly changing around the analysis of digital data, and AI technology is also advancing to a stage of being directly utilized in the investigation and crime analysis process.

In Korea as well, the use of AI in the investigation process is being discussed in earnest, and the relevant institutional framework is being developed.

Recently, as the National Police Agency expands the introduction of artificial intelligence across investigation and public security, it is promoting the enactment of the "National Police Agency AI Directive" to clarify the standards for using AI and the structure of responsibility.

The directive is expected to include the principle that AI is to be used as an auxiliary means for investigative determinations, while the final determination and responsibility rest with the investigator.

This trend shows an important change compared with the structure of existing criminal investigations.

In the past, it was common to separately secure individual digital materials, such as call records, email contents, and search histories, in order to reconstruct the circumstances of a case.

Recently, however, the investigative method has been shifting toward an integrated analysis of various digital data, and in this process the structure in which AI is utilized as an auxiliary analytical tool is gradually expanding.

For AI chat histories to be used as evidence in criminal cases, they must satisfy certain legal requirements, just as ordinary digital evidence does.

The Criminal Procedure Act presupposes that electronic information may also be used as evidence, while treating its reliability and the lawfulness of the collection procedure as important criteria for assessment.

In particular, in the case of digital records, admissibility is determined primarily by reference to the following factors.

Daeryun Law Firm LLP, through collaboration with its Digital Forensics Center and Evidence Investigation Center, provides integrated support for criminal complaints and damages procedures based on digital evidence, including AI chat records.

By organically combining data analysis, evidence review, and legal interpretation, the firm provides a consistent response system from the investigation stage through to trial and civil procedures.