Shin Chang-won, 56, the “rarest of the rare” inmates who attempted suicide in prison, has regained consciousness. He is now able to hold a brief conversation and is being closely guarded by prison guards in the intensive care unit.
(Photo: Yonhap)
Shin Chang-won, who was rushed to a general hospital in Daejeon two days ago in an unconscious state, is said to have fully regained consciousness and is able to have some level of conversation after stopping sleep treatment this afternoon, according to Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday.
Shin was taken to the hospital after being found by prison staff at 8 p.m. on Nov메이저사이트. 21 while attempting to commit suicide in his cell at Daejeon Prison.
Although sleep treatment has been discontinued, Shin’s body has not fully recovered and he will continue to be monitored in the intensive care unit.
Now that he has regained consciousness, Shin is currently chained hand and foot to his bed, with armed prison guards standing guard around him in case something happens.
Two of the guards are at his bedside in the intensive care unit, monitoring his every move, while two others are outside the hospital room, controlling access.
As he recovers enough to talk, the Justice Ministry will investigate the reasons for the extreme measures taken against him.
Previously, Shin was sentenced to life in prison in March 1989 for breaking into a house in Donam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, and stabbing the homeowner to death with a knife after robbing him of about 30 million won in cash.
In January 1997, eight years into his sentence, he broke out of Busan Prison by tearing off the wire mesh of his cell’s bathroom vent and went on a two-and-a-half-year escape.
Immediately after his escape, he was wanted all over the country and there were reports of sightings of him in various places, but he was not caught and it was even said that he was ‘disappearing’.
In particular, in December 1997, he escaped after a confrontation with police at a villa in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, by climbing a drainage pipe outside the window, and a year and a half later, in July 1999, he was arrested after a TV repairman reported that he was hiding in an apartment in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do.
He was later sentenced to an additional 22 years and six months in prison in North Gyeongsangbuk-do, and in August 2011, he tried another extreme option.
A prison guard found him hanging himself with a rubber glove, and he was taken to a hospital for treatment. He was not found guilty of any harsh behavior and was reportedly shocked to learn of his father’s death.
In May 2019, he complained to the Human Rights Commission that he was being held in solitary confinement and his every move was monitored by CCTV, leading to the removal of the CCTV.