Triple-murder suspect had a disturbing record

The man accused of murdering a mother and two daughters in their home in Nowon District, Seoul on March 25 has a recent record of sexually-motivated crimes and aberrant behavior, the police investigation revealed Wednesday.

Twenty-five-year-old Kim Tae-hyeon is accused of murdering the three women after gaining entry to their home on March 25. He had stalked one of the daughters for weeks.

In the course of conducting digital forensic analysis on Kim's mobile phone, police discovered that he frequently visited websites featuring extreme pornography. Police are determining whether there is a link between Kim's online proclivities and his crime.

Kim also had a record of sexual crimes before the murder.

Only last month, Kim was fined 2 million won ($1,790) for sending multiple voice messages of his groans to a female high school student. He also received a separate fine of 2 million won last year for surreptitiously watching women in a women's bathroom.

Police have begun piecing together Kim’s activities in the lead-up and aftermath to the crime.

Surveillance footage from a commercial building in the vicinity of the apartment where the murders occurred shows that Kim visited a PC bang (internet cafe) around 5 p.m., shortly before he headed to the home of his victims.

The PC bang in question was frequented by the elder daughter of the family, whom Kim met at a December in-person meeting for players of the same online game and had stalked ever since.

The footage shows that Kim was in the PC bang for approximately 20 minutes, but did not turn on a computer.

He arrived at the elder daughter’s home at 5:35 p.m. Once allowed into the apartment by the younger daughter, who mistook him for a delivery worker, he fatally stabbed her. He waited and when the mother returned home at 10:30 p.m., he killed her, followed by the elder daughter at 11:30 p.m.

After killing the three women, Kim did not leave the apartment for two days, subsisting on milk and water in the refrigerator until he was discovered there by police. Police went to the home after receiving a report from a friend of the elder daughter, who said she could not be reached.

When they arrived at the apartment, police discovered Kim had wounded himself. They moved him to a hospital for treatment before taking him into custody.

In an interview with KBS Radio on Tuesday, Soo Jung Lee, a forensic psychology professor at Kyonggi University, said that Kim’s behavior after the crime suggests he may have psychopathic tendencies.

“Even murderers panic upon realizing what they’ve done and try to flee a crime scene. The fact that Kim took drinks from their refrigerator after the crime suggests he is far from a normal criminal,” Lee said.

Psychology Professor Kim Tae-kyung of Woosuk University suggests the murderer stayed in the home of his victims to relish his crime.

“There is a possibility that he wanted to enjoy a sense of victory upon completing what he viewed as a hunt,” she said. “Though it is too early to know this for sure, there is even a chance he derived some kind of pleasure from spending time next to the bodies of his victims.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]