Yoo Young-Chul

Case overview

Yoo Young-Chul (Korean: 유영철; born 1970) was a South Korean serial killer and self-confessed cannibal. Although he admitted to murdering 21 people, the Seoul Central District Court convicted him of 20 murders (one case was dismissed on a technicality). He burned three and mutilated at least 11 of his victims, admitting he ate the livers of some of them.

The crimes were committed between September 2003 and July 2004, when he was arrested. He was sentenced to death on 13 December 2004.

Timeline

• June 23, 1993 — Married his girlfriend.
• October 26, 1994 — His son was born.
• October 27, 2000 — Divorced by his wife.
• September 11, 2003 — Released from jail.
• September 24, 2003 — First killing in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
• October 9, 2003 — Second set of killings in Jongro-gu, Seoul.
• October 16, 2003 — Third killing in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
• November 18, 2003 — Fourth killing set in Jongro-gu, Seoul, followed by a house fire.
• December 11, 2003 — Yoo met a new girlfriend (escort girl); she later found out his list of crimes and told him not to see him again.
• March 16, 2004 — Fifth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• April or May, 2004 — Sixth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul involving decapitation in a bathroom and later disposal near Bongwon Temple in Seodaemun-gu.
• May 2004 — Seventh killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• June 1, 2004 — Eighth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• June 9, 2004 — Tenth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• June 18, 2004 — Eleventh killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• June 25, 2004 — Twelfth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• July 2, 2004 — Thirteenth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• July 9, 2004 — Fourteenth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• July 13, 2004 — Fifteenth killing in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
• July 15, 2004 — Captured by police near Grand-mart in Mapo-gu, Seoul at 5am.
• July 18, 2004 — Police said they had captured Yoo and recovered dismembered remains from bodies buried near Yonsei University.
• July 19, 2004 — He was described as having confessed to a 10-month killing spree.
• July 27, 2004 — Police came under fire for violence against the mother of a victim.
• August 15, 2004 — Prosecutors said Yoo told them he ate the flesh of his victims on four occasions.
• August 13, 2004 — Indicted on charges of multiple murder after confession about eating internal organs.
• November 29, 2004 — State prosecution sought the death penalty.
• March 22, 2006 — Yoo was described as having objected to abolishing capital punishment.

Background

Yoo was born in 1970 and grew up poor, with his mother bringing him up after his father died when he was 14. He quit regular school and was confined in a juvenile reformatory school when he was 18.

Yoo was described as having mental disorders and epilepsy. He also had a medical history of mental disorders and had suffered schizophrenia, with police saying that after release he suffered from schizophrenia and nursed a grudge against society.

He was initially arrested on a charge of beating a woman he had paid for sex, and he fled during questioning. He was recaptured later and then confessed to murders.

The early crimes and prior convictions

A list of earlier offences included:

• 1988 — Theft.
• 1991 — Theft; sentenced to 10 months in jail.
• 1993 — Theft; sentenced to 8 months in jail.
• 1995 — Selling illegal pornography; sentenced 3 million KRW.
• 1998 — Theft, forgery, identity theft; sentenced 2 years in jail.
• 2000 — Child sexual abuse (rape); sentenced 3 years 6 months in jail.

Yoo divorced in 2000 (divorced on October 27, 2000) while he was in prison, and he was released from jail on September 11, 2003.

He had been jailed multiple times: police said that since he was a high school student at age 18, he had served a combined 11 years in prison on charges of fraud, violence and other crimes. Another report described that he had been previously in prison 14 times for theft and violent behavior.

Investigation and police actions

Police said they traced Yoo based on footprints left at a crime scene and records on closed circuit TV. As police got close to apprehending him, he went underground and targeted prostitutes to continue the killings.

After his recapture, police said they unearthed the remains of bodies cut into pieces and buried near the mountains near Yonsei University in Seoul, with police recovering dismembered remains that had been stuffed in plastic bags.

Police said Yoo stood by watching during on-site investigations and showed sites of murders in Incheon. Police were also making on-site inquiries at houses and buildings where Yoo said he had killed.

Police said Yoo was carrying a fake police identification card and handcuffs for his crimes.

Arrest and recapture

Police said Yoo was initially arrested on a charge of beating a female masseuse at an inn in Yeoksam-dong in southern Seoul, but he escaped and was on the run for 12 hours before being recaptured.

Police said he was recaptured by a policeman on patrol at Yeongdeungpo Station, southwestern Seoul.

At 5am, July 15, 2004, Yoo was captured by police near Grand-mart in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

The offence: killing spree in Seoul and method

Police said Yoo’s crimes began on Sept. 24, when he murdered a wealthy couple in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. The spree continued through July 2004.

Police said he used hammers and knives for homicides. Police described the targets as mostly wealthy people and women. Police said he did not touch money and other valuable articles, underscoring motive as hatred toward well-to-do people and anger at a social system in which the rich get richer at the expense of the poor.

Yoo reportedly began targeting women working in the sex trade after his girlfriend turned down a marriage proposal and after an ex-convict status rejection. Police said he could not kill his ex-wife because of his 11-year-old son, and he attacked other young women he came across over the past few months.

Victims and locations (as described)

Police described victims as including elderly people and women working in red-light districts. Multiple reports referenced women, elderly victims, and dismembered remains buried near a temple and near Yonsei University.

First through fourth killings (as listed)

• 1st, September 24, 2003 — In Gangnam-gu, Seoul (victims age 72, 67). Yoo stabbed the first victim’s neck and hit the victim’s head with his hammer (4kg), and killed the second victim (the first victim’s wife) with his hammer.
• 2nd, October 9, 2003 — In Jongro-gu, Seoul (victims age 85, 60, 35). Yoo killed three people with the hammer.
• 3rd, October 16, 2003 — In Gangnam-gu, Seoul (victim age 60). Yoo hit the victim’s head with the hammer. The victim was found by her son at 13:30 but died at 14:00.
• 4th, November 18, 2003 — In Jongro-gu, Seoul (victims age 53, 87, baby). Yoo killed two people with the hammer, got hurt when he tried to open a safe, and burned down the house to destroy evidence.

Revenge and later killings (as listed)

On December 11, 2003, Yoo met a new girlfriend (escort girl). She later found out Yoo’s list of crimes and told him not to see him again. Yoo decided to kill escort girls as a revenge.

• 5th, March 16, 2004 — In Mapo-gu, Seoul (victim age 23). Yoo killed an escort girl by choking, mutilated the body, and trashed the body on a trail near Sogang University.
• 6th, April or May, 2004 — In Mapo-gu, Seoul (victim unknown). Yoo lured an escort girl to his apartment, made the victim faint with the hammer, decapitated the victim in the bathroom, smashed the head, mutilated the body, and trashed the body on a construction site near Bongwon Temple in Seodaemun-gu.
• 7th, May 2004 — In Mapo-gu, Seoul (victim age 25). Same procedure as the 6th crime.
• 8th, June 1, 2004 — In Mapo-gu, Seoul (victim age 35).
• 9th, early June, 2004 — In Mapo-gu, Seoul (victim unknown).
• 10th, June 9, 2004 — In Mapo-gu, Seoul (victim age 26).
• 11th, June 18, 2004 — In