Experts stunned by Busan murder suspect's calm behavior during killing

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Experts stunned by Busan murder suspect's calm behavior during killing

Published: 04 Jun. 2023, 16:31 Updated: 04 Jun. 2023, 19:13

Busan murder suspect Jung Yoo-jung is turned over to the prosecution on Friday, a day after her identity was revealed by investigative authorities. [NEWS1]

Even experts are surprised at how Jung Yoo-jung, a 23-year-old charged with the murder of a woman in her 20s in Busan, was so calm when she dealt with the victim's dead body.

"A person normally panics and becomes terrified when they kill someone, even if they are a criminal, but the scene [of Jung going to her home to get a suitcase to carry the dead body] shows no sign of panic or horror," Lee Soo-jung, a forensic psychology professor at Kyonggi University, told YTN on Saturday, calling Jung's attitude "very unusual."

Twenty-three-year-old Jung Yoo-jung, whose identity was revealed last Thursday, is charged with the murder of a woman in her 20s living alone in Busan on May 26.

The victim — a university student and a freelance tutor — and Jung met through a tutoring brokerage app.

Jung, who disguised herself on the application as a parent, approached the victim and asked her to "teach her child English."

The suspect then purchased a school uniform, wore it to look like a student and visited the victim's home.

A security camera footage showed Jung bringing a suitcase from her home back to the victim's home, which was later used to carry and dump parts of the victim's body after killing the victim.

She also left the victim's home after changing into the victim's clothes as there were blood stains on the uniform, police said.

Busan murder suspect Jung Yoo-jung is seen dragging a luggage that she picked up from her home to the victim's home. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

As to why Jung killed a woman in her age group who was a stranger to her, Lee suspects that Jung admired and wanted to have what the victim had.

"I think we can say that Jung wanted to have what the tutor had, such as her social status and academic background, and that is why she chose the victim," Lee said, pointing out that Jung possessed the victim's ID card even after dumping the dead body.

The victim reportedly went to a prestigious university.

Jung's isolated and anti-social life is suspected to have influenced the killing.

"It looks like Jung Yoo-jung's psychopathy awakened while she was living an isolated life for a long time," Bae Sang-hoon, a criminal profiler and a police administration professor at Woosuk University, told the JoongAng Ilbo.

After finishing high school, Jung reportedly lived isolated for five years and has never been employed.

"For Jung, there is a high possibility that she must not have been able to differentiate reality and the virtual world of murders she was into."

Jung told the police that she killed the victim "out of curiosity" after her "curiosity was piqued from reading novels and watching TV programs on murder."

According to Geumgjeong Police Precinct, Jung had initially denied the homicide accusation against her.

But as multiple pieces of evidence were found, including the security camera footage, bloodstained luggage and the victim's ID card, she changed her words, saying "another person killed the victim" and that she only "abandoned the body."

The police found the victim's body parts in a riverside area of the Nakdong River and the rest of her remains at her home.

"It looks like she was not able to think about the 'next step' after the alleged murder," such as preparing clothes to change into, "as she was so into the desire of killing a person," Bae said.

Jung admitted to killing the victim last Wednesday after her family and police persuaded her to do so.

Jung Yoo-jung, 23, is accused of killing a woman in her 20s in Busan who she met through a tutoring brokerage application and dumping her body. Her identities were revealed last Thursday. [BUSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Jung was arrested on May 27 after a cab driver who drove her near the Nakdong River reported her after she took the cab with a bloodied suitcase late at night.

On Friday, the accused appeared with her face covered under a hat and a mask as she was turned over to the prosecution. It marked the first time she appeared in front of the press after her identity was revealed a day earlier.

In Korea, the authorities decide to disclose a suspect's identity, including their name, photo and year of birth, if the case meets certain conditions such as the public's right to know the identity of violent criminal suspects and convicts.

"I apologize to the victim and her family," Jung said as she left the Busan Dongnae Police Precinct on Friday.

"I must have been out of my mind."

Police said the suspect had never been diagnosed or treated for a psychiatric condition.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, KIM MIN-JU [[email protected]]