KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities announced two more arrests Thursday in the death of the North Korean leader’s half brother, whose apparent assassination this week unleashed a wave of speculation and intrigue: a pair of female assailants, a broad-daylight killing and a dictator-sibling out for blood.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities announced two more arrests Thursday in the death of the North Korean leader’s half brother, whose apparent assassination this week unleashed a wave of speculation and intrigue: a pair of female assailants, a broad-daylight killing and a dictator-sibling out for blood.
Investigators were still piecing together details of the case, including the widespread assumption that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dispatched a hit squad to kill his estranged half brother, Kim Jong Nam. Known for his love of gambling and casinos, Kim Jong Nam had lived abroad for years, aware he was a hunted man.
Three suspects — two women and a man — were arrested separately Wednesday and Thursday. The women were identified using surveillance videos from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, suddenly fell ill Monday morning.
Malaysian officials said he died on the way to a hospital after telling medical workers at the airport that he had been sprayed with a chemical.
Multiple South Korean media reports said two women believed to be North Korean agents killed him with some kind of poison.
One of the female suspects had Vietnamese travel documents and was picked up Wednesday at the budget terminal of the airport, the same place where the attack took place. The other woman held an Indonesian passport and was arrested early Thursday.
Medical workers also completed an autopsy on Kim Jong Nam, but the results have not been released.