POLICE CONCLUDES MYSTERIOUS MURDER CASE

[Anchor Lead]

Police have wrapped up the investigation into the largest mystery serial murder case in Korea to date. Over the past year police re-investigated the case from scratch and concluded that the culprit, a man named Lee Chun-jae, had killed 14 women and raped nine others.

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Ten murders occurred in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do Province, beginning in September of 1986. It had remained the nation's largest serial murder cold case until police found Lee Chun-jae's DNA in the evidence of the ninth murder last year. Police decided to re-investigate the case from scratch and concluded that Lee Chun-jae had committed 14 murders and nine rapes. The finding comes 34 years after the first murder in 1986.

[Soundbite] BAE YONG-JOO(GYEONGGI NAMBU PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY) : "We have found that he began to commit sexual crimes to express his discontent caused by pent-up stress and to regain control over his life."

The probe has found that in addition to ten cases of serial killings, Lee had also committed four other murders. An elementary school girl who went missing in Hwaseong in 1989 and whose body could not be found was also found to have been murdered by Lee. Police have also concluded that Lee is a psychopath who can't understand the pain of his victims and exhibits egoistic behavior. The probe has revealed that Lee was suspected of committing the crimes three times before, but each time he was ruled out as a suspect. The investigation also revealed that a man who was falsely accused of murdering Lee Chun-jae's eighth victim and served a 20-year prison sentence was physically abused by police officers during the investigation. The probe also concluded that at the time the girl from Hwaseong disappeared, some of her remains were found but concealed by the police.

[Soundbite] BAE YONG-JOO(GYEONGGI NAMBU PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY) : "I apologize to everyone who sustained damage because of the abusive investigation."

The largest mystery murder case in Korea has finally been solved, but the statute of limitations on Lee Chun-jae and the police officers who investigated his crimes at the time have already expired and convictions deemed impossible.