Female ‘true crime’ fan who killed and dismembered a woman so she could ‘try out a murder’ is jailed for life in South Korea
A South Korean true crime fan has been sentenced to life in prison after killing and dismembering a stranger ‘out of curiosity’.
Jung Yoo-jung, 23, is said to be obsessed with crime shows and novels and also scored high on psychopath tests.
Fixated on the idea of attempting murder, she brutally murdered an English teacher she met through an app, stabbing her to death at her home in May.
The killing shocked South Korea and prosecutors asked for the death penalty.
A court ruled that Jung was an unemployed loner living with her grandfather.
Jung Yoo-jung, 23, (photo by police) confessed to the murder of an unnamed freelance teacher
She had been searching for victims for months using an online tutoring app to find a murder victim.
More than 50 people were contacted asking for lessons at home, mainly women.
In May, she posed as the mother of a high school student who needed English lessons.
She contacted the 26-year-old victim who lived in the southeastern city of Busan.
Jung showed up at the teacher’s house, wearing a school uniform she bought online.
Police said, “Jung is small and with the uniform on, the victim likely mistook her for a high school student.”
When the teacher let her in, Jung went on a frenzied attack, stabbing her more than a hundred times and continuing the attack even after the victim died.
She then dismembered the victim’s body and took a taxi ride to dump some of the remains in a remote park near a river, north of Busan.
Jung was arrested after the taxi driver tipped off police about a customer who had dumped a blood-soaked suitcase in the woods.
According to police, Jung had been researching for months how to kill and how to dispose of a body.
But she was careless and made no effort to avoid the cameras that recorded her entering and leaving the teacher’s house several times.
Jung confessed to the crime and argued for a milder sentence.
She claimed that she was suffering from hallucinations and other mental disorders at the time.
The court rejected her argument because the crime was “carefully planned.”
It was also noted that her statements to the police had changed regularly.
At first, Jung said she only moved the body after someone else killed the woman, but later claimed the murder occurred after an argument.
She eventually confessed that her interest in committing murder stemmed from her obsession with crime shows and TV programs.
South Korea still has the death penalty, but it has not been carried out since 1997.
“Jung was found to have premeditated the crime, driven by a desire to kill someone after she became obsessed with murder from TV shows and books.” The Chosunilbo a Busan police spokesperson said.
“Jung also said she regrets what she did,” the police spokesman added. “We’re running tests to see if she’s a psychopath.”
Police said Jung’s phone records show she had spent the past three months scouring the Internet for tips on how to hide a dead body.
Police also believe she used crime novels and television programs as research. Jung’s library file shows that she borrowed a number of crime stories in the months before the crime.
After planning the crime, police said Jung visited a nearby supermarket, where she bought rolls of large garbage bags and bottles of bleach.
Police in the southern city of Busan (pictured) said Jung Yoo-jung was engrossed in crime stories and wanted to see what murder would be like in real life
Jung then dismembered and dismembered her victim and placed some of her body parts in a suitcase. She then got into a taxi and dumped the suitcase in the Nakdong River, in a remote forest area.
Police said Jung had tried to “make it look like the victim had disappeared.”
“Jung kept the victim’s cell phone, ID card and wallet in an attempt to commit a perfect crime.”
However, after the taxi driver became suspicious and alerted authorities, police recovered the case and found blood-stained clothing. The remaining body parts were found in Jung’s home.
“Jung was a loner and a recluse who has been unemployed since he graduated from high school five years ago,” police said.
Jung was escorted from the detention center for prosecution on Friday morning. She told reporters that she “really feels sorry for the victim’s family,” The Korea Times reported.
She added, “I think I was crazy,” when reporters asked her why she tried to cover up the murder.