Search is on for unsolved crimes linked to taxi murder

Photo of Lee Ki-young used for his driver's license [YONHAP]

The police are tracking down 380 contacts of Lee Ki-young, accused of murdering two people including a taxi driver, to see if he might be connected to unsolved crimes.

Lee, 31, was arrested Wednesday after allegedly confessing to the murder of a taxi driver he had an altercation with on Dec. 20 and his former girlfriend.

The Ilsan Dongbu Police Precinct said Monday it has contacted 95 percent of the 380 people that Lee either made calls to or exchanged text messages with in the past one year.

"So far we haven't been able to find anything that might indicate there were additional victims," a police spokesman said. "We plan to make contact with 10 or so more people, who haven't been reached yet due to problems with the telecommunication companies."

The police are particularly interested in Lee having caused harm to stranger as was the case with the taxi driver. A witness told them that before his arrest last week, Lee had an altercation with a stranger while drinking on Christmas day.

Before dawn on Dec. 25, Lee joined a group of people in their 20s at a pocha, a street vendor that sells food and alcohol, in Goyang, Gyeonggi, according to the police.

He abruptly joined the group and offered to pay for their meals. Not long afterward, a 22-year-old male told Yonhap he was slapped by Lee.

The police found Lee the same day at a hospital getting his injured hand treated.

The local media has reported that Lee used the alias "Lee Hyung-taek" on numerous mobile phone accounts.

This has raised suspicion of him being connected to other unsolved crimes.

Lee, who didn't have a steady job for years, lived on credit cards and loans taken out by his girlfriend. After allegedly murdering the taxi driver on Dec. 20, he used his credit cards to spend over 50 million won ($39,000).

Lee is currently under psychological evaluation by two profilers who will determine if he is a psychopath.

Lee has four past convictions. In 2013, when he was a staff sergeant in the military, Lee was pulled over for drunk driving just three months after losing his license for drinking. He bit the hand of a police officer trying to take away the car keys and drove 2 kilometers with the officer hanging onto the vehicle.

He was sentenced to a year and a half in prison.

In 2019, he drove 30 kilometers drunk while serving a suspended eight-month sentence for reckless driving. He was sentenced to a year in prison.

Last Thursday, the police disclosed his identity.

The Korean police only disclose the identity of a defendant when approved by a review board determines if the disclosure benefits the public's interest. There also has to be the consent of the accused.

However, there was a minor public backlash as the photo of Lee was from his driver's license, hardly resembles his current look.

Lee’s case has been a sensation as the body of the taxi driver was hidden in a closet and discovered by his current girlfriend when she was looking for cat food.

Lee is accused of murdering the taxi driver after smashing into his car, possibly while inebriated. He allegedly told the 60-year-old taxi driver that he would compensate him if he did not call the police and told him he must come to his home in Paju, Gyeonggi, to collect the money, the police said.

Lee allegedly said he and the driver got into an argument at his home, and he killed him and hid his body in a closet.

Under questioning, Lee confessed to the August killing of an ex-girlfriend in her 50s.

The police found traces of blood in a travel bag at Lee's ex-girlfriend's apartment. Lee allegedly confessed to throwing her body on a river bank in Paju.

BY JEON ICK-JIN, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]