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Jung Yoo-jung

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In this Korean name, the family name is Jung.
Jung Yoo-jung
Born1999
Busan, South Korea
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment
Details
Victims1
Span of crimes
1999–1999
CountrySouth Korea
State(s)Yeongnam
Imprisoned atBusan Detention Center

Jung Yoo-jung (also Jeong Yoo-jeong,[1] Korean: 정유정; born 1999) is a South Korean homicide killer. In May 2023, disguised as a secondary student seeking for English tutoring, she killed the tutor at her home in Busan.[2] Investigation revealed that she had been engrossed in crime shows and books about murders. She claimed her act as "out of curiosity."[3][4]

After dismembering the body, Jung carried the body remains in a suitcase and dumped in an isolated forest by the banks of Nakdong River.[5][6] The driver of a taxi which she took, tipped off the police as he became suspicious of his passenger's bloodstained suitcase. In November 2023, the Busan District Court sentenced Jung to life imprisonment.[7][8] Prosecutors wanted a death penalty and she was retried by the Supreme Court in May 2024, which upheld the conviction of life sentence.[9]

Background

Jung lived with her grandfather in Busan. Her mother deserted her when she was one year old, and then by her father when she was six.[10][11] She completed her secondary education in 2018 and since then remained unemployed,[12] and had applied for university entrance several times but without success.[13] A the time of the murder, she was preparing for competitive examinations for civil services.[14]

With plenty of free time, Jung developed a hobby of watching crime shows and reading murder stories. She had learned from internet sources on how to conceal and dispose off bodies. Wanting to act out a real-life scenario, she started to make plans for killing. As the Busan police later revealed, she had well-researched on the modus operandi, one of which was learning from books she borrowed from a local library.[3][15] The library record showed Jung borrowing many books on crimes in the past months.[16] Targeting more vulnerable female home tutors, she joined a tutoring app pretending as a parent. By May 2023, she approached 54 tutors posing as a mother of a 9th-grade student who needs English tuition. Then, in late May 2023, she found a willing tutor, a 26-year-old freelance worker and a university student, who was living in the south-eastern area of Busan.[14][17]

Murder

Jung contacted the female tutor who agreed for a home lesson to a fictitious girl. She had bought a school uniform from an online seller.[15] Herself disguised as a school girl, Jung went to the tutor on 26 May 2023. Being of a short stature, she impressed the tutor as a young student and was willingly let in the house.[3][11] She stabbed the tutor with a well-prepared weapon [not specified] for over a 110 times.[10] Footage from a security camera showed that she first went back to her home to bring a black trolley suitcase.[5] She then went to a nearby store to buy garbage bag and a bleach. Returning to the victim's home, she dismembered the body and packed it into the suitcase.[18][19] She severed the fingers to make biometric identification difficult and also kept the victim's mobile phone, ID card and wallet, to make a scene of traceless disappearance – "a perfect crime", as the police reported.[3] When she left the victim's house, she had removed the bloodstained school uniform and was dressed in the victim's cloth.[20] She took a taxi and dumped the suitcase with its contents a secluded forest near Nakdong River in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.[13]

Arrest and conviction

Suspicious of Jung's behaviour and actions, particularly after Jung's taking out a blood-soakced suitcase, the taxi driver informed the police who immediately searched for Jung.[11] On 27 May, the police arrested Jung and found bloodstained cloths and body parts in her house. The police also found the suitcase with body remains. Jung showed no remorse or attempt to deny her involvement in the murder. However, she initially said that she took the body only after she found the victim murdered by someone else;[15] but soon changed her story that she had "accidentally killed the victim in an argument."[3] As the police found several irregularities in her account, her family urged her to tell the truth, after which she made the full confession.[18] On 2 June, she made a public apology that she was out of her mind and "really sorry for the victim's family."[14]

The Busan District Court held the first trial of Jung on 14 July 2023.[10] In the court, her motive was described as due to "a feeling of resentment and anger toward her family, helplessness due to continued failures such as college entrance and employment."[18] She pleaded for a mild sentence claiming that hallucinations and a host of mental health issues compelled her.[15] Phone call record played in the court indicated Jung had given death threats to her father a few days before the murder.[11] Internet browsing history also revealed Jung had searched for many months on methods to kill and dispose bodies.[17] Police also found that a day before the murder, i.e. 25 May, Jung invited a young woman for a walk near Nakdong River, but the sidewalk they took was full of passers-by; hence, no chance of a murder. Jung had also tried to lure earlier a teenage boy at the same location, who got suspicious over the online chat and refused to meet her.[1]

On 24 November 2023, the court made a verdict of guilty of homicide,[13] desecration and abandonment of a corpse.[18] The presiding judge Kim Tae-eob ruled that Jung had not mental illness that prompted the murder and that she "carefully planned and carried out" the ordeal. While the prosecution expected a death penalty, she was given a life sentence.[15][19] Her apologies and lawyers's plea for reduced sentence were denied, and the court found the murder as a deliberate and premeditated act. She will wear a location tracking device for 30 years,[21] and will be eligible for parole after 20 years.[13]

The prosecution appealed for harder sentence to the Supreme Court on 28 November, while Jung applied for reduced sentence on 30 November.[22] South Korea has capital punishment of death penalty, but has not been in actual effect since 1997.[23] The prosecution moved the petition to the Busan High Court. In March, the court ruled that the death penalty "should be executed only in very limited and exceptional cases," rejecting the petition.[24] The prosecution then moved the petition to the Supreme Court which reopened the case in May 2024.[9] On 13 June 2024, the Supreme Court announced its decision that Jung's life sentence was justified. According to the court, the judgement was based on circumstantial factors such as the offender's age, behaviour, background and motive for the murder.[24]

Impact

Jung's action was said to "spread fear in society that one can become a victim for no reason."[17] It also led to distrust of others in a community.[2] According to Lee Soo-jung, a forensic psychology professor at Kyonggi University, Jung's conduct was most unusual as most murderers would be terrified, and Jung showed no sign of panic or tension.[5] Lee further suggested that tha main motive could be that Jung wanted to steal the victim's identity considering her taking the ID card and wallet, and her failure to get univeristy enrolment.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Bae, Jong-tae (2023-09-12). "[브레이크뉴스 부산 ] 정유정, 또래 여성 살해 前 '2차례 더 살인 시도'...10대 男 현장에 안 나와 모면해" [Jung Yoo-jung, '2 more murder attempts' before the murder of a woman of the same age]. Break News (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  2. ^ a b Mao, Frances (2023-11-24). "Korean true crime fan murdered stranger 'out of curiosity'". BBC. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  3. ^ a b c d e Steinbuch, Yaron (2023-06-06). "Woman obsessed with crime shows, books killed 'out of curiosity about murder'". New York Post. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  4. ^ Wilford, Denette (2023-11-27). "True crime fan who killed, dismembered stranger 'out of curiosity' gets life sentence". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  5. ^ a b c Cho, Jung-woo; Kim, Min-ju (2023-06-04). "Experts stunned by Busan murder suspect's calm behavior during killing". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  6. ^ Kirschner, Kylie (2023-11-25). "A Korean true crime fan who murdered a stranger 'out of curiosity' is sentenced to life in prison". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  7. ^ Mao, Frances (2023-11-24). "Korean true crime fan murdered stranger 'out of curiosity'". BBC. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  8. ^ Farberov, Snejana (2023-11-24). "Jung Yoo-jung, who killed tutor sentenced to life in prison". New York Post. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  9. ^ a b "Top court confirms life sentence for Busan psychopathic killer". koreatimes. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  10. ^ a b c "Psychopathic murder suspect said to have stabbed victim over 110 times". koreatimes. 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  11. ^ a b c d Lee, Amanda (2023-11-25). "Murder 'out of curiosity': Woman in South Korea jailed for life for killing, dismembering stranger". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  12. ^ a b Jaeeun, Lee (2023-06-02). "To steal victim's identity? What expert says about suspect in Busan murder". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  13. ^ a b c d Jung-youn, Lee (2023-11-24). "Convicted killer of university student sentenced to life in prison". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  14. ^ a b c Soh, Dongjoo (2023-06-02). "Busan murder suspect apologizes to victim's family". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  15. ^ a b c d e Farberov, Snejana (2023-11-24). "Jung Yoo-jung, who killed tutor sentenced to life in prison". New York Post. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  16. ^ Whelan, Chloe (2023-11-25). "South Korean true crime fan turned killer sentenced". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  17. ^ a b c "Stranger was murdered 'out of curiosity' by a Korean true crime fan". The Business Standard. 2023-11-25. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  18. ^ a b c d Ferrarin, Elena (2024-02-24). "Did an Obsession with True Crime Lead a South Korean Woman to Murder?". A&E. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  19. ^ a b Ganz, Jami (2023-11-24). "True crime-obsessed woman gets life in prison for murdering, dismembering stranger 'out of curiosity'". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  20. ^ "Chilling Details Of A 23-Year-Old Cold Blooded Murderer In Busan Leaves Experts Stunned". Koreaboo. 2023-06-09. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  21. ^ Lee, Michael (2023-11-24). "23-year-old killer gets life sentence for grisly murder in Busan". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  22. ^ Kim, Hyun-soo (2023-11-30). "Busan's 'curiosity' killer appeals life imprisonment sentence". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  23. ^ Song, Won-hyung (2024-02-22). "Gov't Inspects Execution Facilities Amid Death Penalty Debate". The Chosun Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-05.
  24. ^ a b Lee, Soo-yung (2024-06-13). "Top court upholds life sentence in grisly Busan murder case". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
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