Woman indicted, detained for killing woman in Busan

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Woman indicted, detained for killing woman in Busan

Published: 21 Jun. 2023, 19:13 Updated: 22 Jun. 2023, 09:13

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 identity was revealed on June 1. [BUSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Prosecutors on Wednesday indicted and detained Jung Yoo-jung on charges of murdering a woman in her 20s in Busan and dumping the victim's body.

The indictment comes after 26 days the 23-year-old allegedly murdered the victim on May 26.

Jung is accused of murdering a 20-something-year-old woman who she met through a tutoring brokerage app last month.

The Busan District Prosecutors’ Office concluded the alleged murder was premeditated as she contacted dozens of tutors on the app beforehand and prepared a weapon as she visited the victim’s house.

The suspect is also accused of damaging the victim’s body and disposing of some body parts in a riverside area of the Nakdong River.

She is additionally charged with theft for changing into the victim’s outfits after she found some blood stains on the school uniform she wore to disguise herself as a student.

A forensic analysis of Jung’s phone also showed that she contacted a total of 54 tutors online, the prosecutors' office said.

“This was a process to check if she could attend a class at the house of a woman living alone,” the prosecutors said, adding that Jung chose to visit the victim’s house after she confirmed the victim met the conditions.

Busan murder suspect Jung Yoo-jung is turned over to the prosecution on June 2, a day after her identity was revealed by investigative authorities. [NEWS1]

While some experts assumed Jung would have killed a woman in her age group who was a stranger to her to steal her identification, prosecutors said there was no such evidence to back up the argument.

The experts claimed that Jung committed such a crime due to her admiration of what the victim had, such as the victim’s academic background, as she searched for tutors who attended prestigious universities on the app.

Jung never attended a university nor worked, but lived isolated for five years after finishing high school.

However, prosecutors said identification theft was not the motive behind the alleged crime, adding Jung changing her clothes to the victim’s was merely to conceal evidence of the crime.

Prosecutors during the investigation also obtained some memos written by Jung.

The memos contained messages that she “cannot release her anger if she does not kill” somebody. She also did an internet search on “how to murder” prior to the alleged crime.

“Jung needed someone to express the chronic anger she has carried since childhood due to her impoverished upbringing, conflicts with family, and failure to get into a university or find a job,” an official from the prosecutor's office said.

“It looks like her psychopathy influenced the crime.”

Jung’s psychopathy index was over 28, higher than serial killer Kang Ho-sun’s number of 27 when it was measured during the police investigation. But her psychopathy index result was lower at 26.3 when measured during the prosecutors’ investigation.

Jung is currently detained in a single cell at the Busan Detention Center, according to sources.

She was arrested on May 27 after a cab driver who drove her near the Nakdong River reported her as he thought her abandoning a bloodied suitcase late at night was suspicious.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]