A South Korean court has issued a life sentence to Jung Yoo-jung, a 23-year-old true crime fan, who confessed to murdering a stranger “out of curiosity.” The crime, marked by its gruesome nature, has sent shockwaves through South Korea.
Jung Yoo-jung, known for her obsession with crime shows and novels, scored highly on psychopath tests, according to the police. Driven by a fixation with the idea of “trying out a murder,” she used an online tutoring app to connect with an English-language teacher, ultimately carrying out the brutal killing at the victim’s home in May.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, a request typically reserved for the gravest offenses. They revealed that Jung, an unemployed loner residing with her grandfather, spent months looking for victims, targeting women who conducted lessons at home.
Posing as the mother of a high school student in need of English lessons, Jung contacted the 26-year-old victim in Busan. The chilling attack involved Jung showing up at the tutor’s house dressed in a school uniform purchased online. She brutally stabbed the woman more than 100 times, continuing the assault even after the victim’s death.
Following the murder, Jung dismembered the victim’s body and took a taxi to dispose of some remains in remote parkland near a river north of Busan. Her arrest came after a vigilant taxi driver alerted the police about a customer who had discarded a blood-soaked suitcase in the woods.
While Jung claimed to have suffered hallucinations and mental disorders at the time, the court rejected her plea for a more lenient sentence. The judge emphasized that the crime was “carefully planned and carried out,” casting doubt on Jung’s claims of mental and physical disorders.
The sentencing judge remarked that the killing had “spread fear in society that one can become a victim for no reason” and “incited a general distrust” among the community. Despite South Korea retaining the death penalty, it has not executed anyone since 1997. The case serves as a harrowing reminder of the intersection between true crime fascination and real-life tragedy.
