A decidedly chilling story, which goes beyond the boundaries of film and television fiction. Unfortunately, however, it is all true: in the US state of Washington, a 42-year-old woman was attacked and buried alive by her husband.
The victim managed to notify the authorities in time thanks to his Apple Watch. According to the court minutes, the man is called Chae Kyong An53, and is now charged with attempted first degree murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree assault.
Washington woman buried alive: what happened
According to NBC News, which has reconstructed the story, the woman was buried alive in the thickets of Washington state by her husband, from whom she had been separated for some time.
It all started on Sunday afternoon, when the woman suffered a first attack at her home. Following an argument over the divorce, the man lashed out at his wife immobilizing her, blindfolding her by gagging her with duct tape. Fortunately, the woman was able to alert 911 thanks to her Apple Watch.
The Lacey police report, about 60 miles southwest of Seattle, reports that the agent who received the call found himself talking to “a screaming woman who seemed gagged”. At that point the alarm went off, while in the place of violence the man tore the smart watch from the woman’s wrist and smashed it with a hammer.
The woman said she was loaded into her husband’s van still gagged and blindfolded. Victim testified that he distinctly heard the sound of a spade digging into the earth before being stabbed in the chest. The police report explains that the woman was “drugged and placed in the grave still blindfolded and immobilized. As her husband poured the earth into the hole, she was conscious and could hear his footsteps ”.
The victim told police that she had to “struggle to breathe inside the hole” and that she “managed to keep the dirt off her face by wriggling.” She then managed to free herself from the duct tape. Once the tape was removed from her eyes she could see the van window with the lights on inside.
At that point she began to run until she reached a house where she managed to ask for help. “She still had duct tape wrapped around her neck and ankles,” reads the report of her discovery. “The woman had extensive bruises on her legs, arms and head while her clothes and hair were covered with earth”.
On the man’s head now hang multiple charges
The police immediately launched an investigation, detecting a surveillance video showing Kyong An’s van at the woman’s home. THEThe footage also features the man whizzing at full speed, presumably with the woman inside the vehicle. The victim told investigators that her husband had already threatened to kill her in the past. According to the woman, her husband said that he would have “preferred to kill her rather than give her the money for the divorce.”
Investigators located the pit on the edge of a clearing near a forest, not far from the road. The hole is described as “shallow” and “recently dug”. Near it, the police found pieces of adhesive tape.
Chae Kyong An will now face multiple charges including attempted first degree murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree assault. The man is currently under arrest and during a preliminary hearing the judge accepted the prosecutor’s request to detain him without bail.