A Seoul court issued a warrant Sunday to arrest a man suspected of murdering his girlfriend, shortly after he was released from police custody for investigation on charges of abusing her.

The Seoul Southern District Court granted a warrant to arrest the 33-year-old, surnamed Kim, on charges of murdering his girlfriend in revenge. The court cited fear he might flee.

Kim is accused of stabbing the 47-year-old woman multiple times with a weapon in the underground parking lot of a shopping mall in Geumcheon Ward, southwestern Seoul, at 7:17 a.m. Friday.

The suspect soon fled the scene with the unconscious woman in a rental car but was later apprehended on a hillside in Paju, some 40 kilometers northwest of Seoul, at 3:25 p.m. The police discovered the victim’s body in the back seat of the vehicle.

The incident occurred just an hour after Kim was released from police custody following questioning on his alleged violence. The woman had reported her boyfriend to the police following a fight early Friday, saying he broke a television and pulled her arm.

A few days earlier, she had asked him to break up.

Kim has admitted the charges, saying he committed the crime out of fury on reporting him to the police.

Source: Yonhap News Agency