Seoul Police Say Yoo Young-chul Confessed to at Least 19 Murders as Bodies of 11 Women Are Unearthed
Police said the killings, of women and of elderly people in wealthy districts, began less than a year earlier. Yoo told them there were too many to count.
Published
For months, elderly residents of Seoul's wealthy districts had been killed in their homes, and women sent out by massage agencies had gone missing. On July 18, 2004, police said one man had confessed to the killings.
Seoul Police Chief Huh Joon-young said that day that the suspect, Yoo Young-chul, 33, was linked to at least 19 murders committed in less than a year. Police said Yoo may have killed at least 26 people and was unsure of the number himself. Most of the victims were women, and some were elderly residents of wealthy parts of the city. The same day, investigators unearthed the bodies of 11 women buried in shallow graves near a temple in northern Seoul.
Yoo had been arrested for beating a masseuse. After the agencies that employed the missing women noticed a pattern, they gave police the phone number he had used to call for them. According to the Korea Herald's report at the time, he escaped and was on the run for 12 hours before a patrolling officer recaptured him. Police said the killings began in September 2003 with a 73-year-old retired professor and his wife, shortly after Yoo was released from prison, where he had served time for robbery and rape. He had earlier jail terms for theft and sexual abuse. The Korea Herald reported that he had a deep hatred of wealthy people and women.
Yoo, now counted as having killed 20 people, was later sentenced to death. As of 2023, South Korea had not carried out an execution since 1997, and he was still on death row.
Seoul police linked Yoo to at least 19 murders, while The Korea Herald's front page the next day said he had confessed to killing at least 20 people.
Sources
- Serial killer may have murdered 26, The Japan Times Weekly
- In 2004, serial murderer with goal to kill 100 was stopped at 20, The Korea Herald
Related News
- June 9, 2005: South Korea's Supreme Court Closes the Yoo Young-chul Case, Leaving His Death Sentence for 20 Murders Final