True Crime Fan Who Killed 'Out of Curiosity' Learns Fate

Jung Yoo-jung of South Korea sentenced to life in prison for murder of tutor
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 24, 2023 8:10 AM CST
Updated Nov 26, 2023 3:05 PM CST
True Crime Fan Who Killed 'Out of Curiosity' Learns Fate
Jung Yoo-jung   (Busan Police)

A young fan of the true crime genre who admitted to brutally murdering a stranger "out of curiosity" was sentenced to life in prison in South Korea on Friday. Jung Yoo-jung, 23, was arrested in June after the taxi driver she hired reported seeing her dump a blood-soaked suitcase in a wooded area north of Busan, per the BBC. Police said Jung became fixated on "trying out a murder" after watching true crime TV shows and checking out similarly-themed books from a library.

She contacted more than 50 people on an online tutoring app, asking if they gave lessons from their home. She tried to meet two other tutors before the 26-year-old victim from Busan agreed to a May 26 meeting with a person she believed to be a high school student in need of English lessons, per the BBC and Korea Times. On the day of the murder, Jung purchased a school uniform and showed up at the tutor's home wearing it, per the Chosun Ilbo. Once inside the home, she stabbed the victim more than 100 times, with several wounds coming after the unnamed woman had already died, police said.

Jung then visited a supermarket, where she bought bleach and other supplies, before returning to the home to dismember the body, per the Chosun Ilbo. She stuffed some of the remains in a suitcase before taking a taxi to parkland north of the city, where she left the bag, police said. She allegedly kept other human remains along with the victim's phone and wallet "in order to make it look like the victim had disappeared," police said. She was "attempting to commit a perfect crime," police said, but this was far from it. CCTV cameras captured Jung going in and out of the victim's home numerous times, while online searches showed she'd spent months researching how to carry out a murder and get rid of a body.

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Jung initially told police someone else killed the tutor and she only moved the body. Later, she claimed to have killed the tutor during an argument and after suffering hallucinations before finally admitting to killing "out of curiosity," police said. Officers described her as a true crime fanatic and unemployed "loner," per the Chosun Ilbo. Though prosecutors requested the death penalty, Jung was sentenced to life in prison in Busan District Court, per the Korea Times. The sentencing judge noted the murder had "spread fear in society that one can become a victim for no reason," per the BBC. (Read more on the case here.)

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