Korea's serial killer Lee Ki-young case in 2022

 On December 20, 2022, the suspect, Lee Gi-yeong (male, 31 years old), was involved in a drunk driving accident with a taxi driver, Mr. A (male, 60 years old), while driving a white Kia Sorento vehicle. After the accident, Lee Gi-yeong lured A to his apartment in Paju City, promising to provide a large sum of settlement money and cover the repair costs.

However, once inside his apartment, Lee Gi-yeong attacked A with a blunt object, resulting in his death. Lee Gi-yeong then left the body in his closet for approximately 5 days. It was discovered when his girlfriend was searching for cat food in the house and stumbled upon the body. She immediately reported to the police, stating, "There is a dead person in my boyfriend's apartment closet."

On the day of the murder, Lee Gi-yeong had a meal with his current girlfriend and her parents at a restaurant in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province. After drinking alcohol with his girlfriend's parents, despite her objections, he proceeded to commit the drunk driving accident and subsequently murdered the taxi driver. After the victim, A, was killed, his family tried to contact him using his smartphone. 

Lee Gi-yeong pretended to be A through KakaoTalk, intentionally delaying the report. A's family became worried when he didn't return home, and they continued to contact him. Finally, on the 25th, around 3 a.m., they received a message. However, the messages from A seemed different from his usual manner of speaking, and when they tried to call him, he insisted on communicating through texts and avoided answering the phone, making excuses like being busy or having a low battery. 

Suspicious of the situation, the family reported his disappearance to the police, stating, "My father has not returned home for 6 days. We had a conversation on KakaoTalk 30 minutes ago, but it seems like someone else is responding." On the same day, Lee Gi-yeong's girlfriend discovered the body in the closet of his apartment and immediately reported it to the police at around 11:22 a.m. The police responded, and after verifying the identity, it was confirmed that the missing person was the taxi driver, A.

Lee Gi-yeong claimed that he killed the taxi driver in a fit of anger during their conversation about the settlement money. However, there are suspicions that it may have been a premeditated crime based on the evidence of his subsequent loans and credit card usage. At the time, Lee Gi-yeong had only 450,000 KRW in cash and a bank balance of around 170,000 KRW, indicating that he had practically no assets and was financially unstable. 

Moreover, Lee Gi-yeong had a previous record of drunk driving offenses. Facing the possibility of serving time for another drunk driving incident, he may have resorted to murder to conceal his actions. He also made attempts to destroy evidence by disposing of the victim's taxi approximately 1 kilometer away from his apartment. Lee Gi-yeong also deleted the memory card containing the black box recording from the taxi, as well as the black box data from his own vehicle.

After killing the taxi driver, Lee Gi-yeong indulged in extravagance using the victim's credit card. According to the credit card transaction history released by the police, it was revealed that Lee Gi-yeong made purchases totaling around 7.69 million KRW, including an expensive couple ring worth about 6 million KRW and payments at high-end bars and hotels. It was also discovered that he had taken out loans amounting to approximately 45 million KRW using the victim's credit card. 

When considering both the loans and the payment history, it is estimated that Lee Gi-yeong managed to embezzle a total of around 54 million KRW within just a few days before being apprehended. Furthermore, he mentioned detecting a strong rose scent coming from the neighbor's house through the bathroom, which suggests that he used a significant amount of air freshener to mask any foul odors emanating from his own residence.

It was previously reported that Lee Gi-yeong had bought a luxury bag for his girlfriend, but this turned out to be false. He also managed to obtain tens of millions of KRW in loans through a remote process by unlocking the taxi driver's smartphone pattern. When combining the credit card expenses and loan amounts, a total of 54 million KRW was uncovered. It was reported that he deciphered the smartphone pattern by referencing drawings in a notebook.

Afterwards, on the early morning of December 25th, Lee Gi-yeong got into an argument with unknown individuals and injured his hand. While receiving treatment at Inje University Ilsan Baekbyeong Hospital, he was arrested on December 26th at noon. Initial reports stated that it was a fight with friends, but subsequent reports revealed that they were unfamiliar people with no prior connection to Lee Gi-yeong. Five men claim that they followed Lee Gi-yeong based on his offer to buy them alcohol and meat. While intoxicated, Lee Gi-yeong boasted about having a lot of money, saying, "I own eight buildings," and asked the strangers if they could kill someone or work together.

According to an interview with the paramedic who transported him, featured on the show "I Want to Know," Lee Gi-yeong lied and claimed that the injuries he sustained while intoxicated were the result of brutal torture. He alleged that he endured waterboarding and pipe beatings for a grueling five hours before managing to escape, pretending to be frightened and begging for his life, unable to easily leave the scene. However, later on, when watching the news, it was revealed that the person interviewed was actually the murderer, Lee Gi-yeong.

3.2. Murder of Previous Girlfriend

With the revelation that the apartment where the murder and disposal of the body occurred and the cellphone involved did not actually belong to Lee Gi-yeong, another buried incident resurfaced. The actual owner of the apartment and the registered owner of the cellphone turned out to be Lee Gi-yeong's ex-girlfriend, B (female, in her 50s).

Lee Gi-yeong claimed that B's whereabouts were unknown since she left the apartment in August, but suspicious circumstances emerged during the police investigation. It was discovered that Lee Gi-yeong had been in possession of B's cellphone, and from early to late August, when she went missing, he had suspiciously used her credit card for transactions totaling around 20 million KRW. As a result of the police's intensive questioning, it was revealed that Lee Gi-yeong not only killed the taxi driver but also murdered his previous girlfriend back in August. 

The body was found to have been disposed of along the banks of Gongneungcheon in Paju. Lee Gi-yeong stated that he placed the body in the trunk of a vehicle and dumped it in the riverside area of Goyang City. However, due to heavy rainfall and a typhoon shortly after disposing of the body, as of December 29th, more than four months had passed without the body being found. A police official stated, "We are conducting an intensive search of the area to verify the truthfulness of Lee Gi-yeong's statement."

On January 3, 2023, the suspect changed his statement, claiming that he buried his ex-girlfriend's body near the riverbank instead of disposing of it in the river. However, due to the frozen ground during winter, the search operation for the body is expected to be challenging. 

As for the motive behind the murder of his ex-girlfriend, he stated that he killed her due to a debt issue. It was revealed that he borrowed 350 million KRW from his ex-girlfriend and failed to repay it. The police have obtained a contract that specifies the repayment deadline. Lee Gi-yeong emphasizes that the killing was not premeditated, stating that during a dispute, he accidentally threw bicycle repair equipment at his ex-girlfriend, resulting in her death. He claims it was not a planned murder.

After murdering B, with whom he lived together, around mid-September, Lee Gi-yeong suddenly inherited a large sum of money and boasted about it to acquaintances. Witnesses testified that Lee Gi-yeong's behavior seemed abnormal, considering the recent loss of his parents. It was also revealed that he personally managed B's mobile phone, changing the messenger profile picture twice. 

Furthermore, it came to light that he had accumulated nearly 100 million KRW in debt using credit cards under B's name until December. Despite living in B's apartment, he confronted his current girlfriend, asking why there were belongings of other women, such as clothes and cosmetics. The substantial hearing for the issuance of an arrest warrant for the suspect, Lee Gi-yeong, will be held on December 28 at the Goyang branch of Uijeongbu District Court. Judge Park Geun-jeong, who presides over the case, issued the arrest warrant due to concerns of evidence tampering and flight risk.

December 20, 2022:The suspect, Lee Gi-yeong (male, 31 years old), caused a drunk driving accident and lured the victim, A (male, 60 years old), to his house under the pretense of offering settlement money. Once there, he attacked and killed A with a blunt weapon.

December 25, 2022:Lee Gi-yeong, who was receiving treatment for his injured hand at Ilsan Baekbyeong Hospital, was arrested after his girlfriend discovered the victim's body hidden in a closet and reported it.

December 27, 2022:During the investigation, Lee Gi-yeong confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend in August following an argument and disposing of the body along with the murder weapon near the riverside in Goyang City.

December 28, 2022:The Uijeongbu District Court, Goyang Branch, issued an arrest warrant for the suspect on charges of murder and body disposal, citing concerns of evidence tampering and flight risk.

December 29, 2022:The Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency held a meeting of the Information Disclosure Deliberation Committee and publicly released the suspect's facial photo, name, age, and other personal information. Lee Gi-yeong (male, born in 1991).

December 30, 2022:It was revealed that Lee Gi-yeong had a prior record of four instances of drunk driving.

January 4, 2023:The case was transferred to the Uijeongbu District Prosecutor's Office, Goyang Branch.

January 19, 2023:The Uijeongbu District Prosecutor's Office, Goyang Branch, announced the investigation results and formally indicted Lee Gi-yeong, requesting his detention.

On December 29, 2022, the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency held a meeting of the Information Disclosure Deliberation Committee and decided to disclose the personal information of Lee Gi-yeong (male, 31). Instead of the photo taken after the arrest, they released the driver's license photo of the existing Lee. Considering the discrepancy between the suspect's past photo and his current appearance, which raised concerns about the effectiveness of disclosing personal information, the police discussed the possibility of releasing a mugshot taken after the arrest. However, it was reported that Lee Gi-yeong did not agree to this.

On January 19, 2023, the specialized investigation team (led by Detective 2nd Rank Jung Byeong-jun, Information Officer) of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutor's Office, Goyang Branch, arrested and indicted Lee on charges of aggravated murder, revenge killing under the Act on Aggravated Punishment for Specific Crimes, and other offenses. 

The prosecution confirmed that Lee Gi-yeong posed a high risk of reoffending as a psychopath and additionally revealed charges of revenge killing and forgery of documents, in addition to the previous charges of aggravated murder and concealing a corpse. 

Furthermore, Lee was also indicted for illicitly receiving 10 million won of COVID-19 support funds for small business owners from March 30 to May 31, 2022. It was found that Lee Gi-yeong had created a false business entity that was registered but not operational and used fabricated sales data to claim the support funds. 

The trial at the first instance was held on February 22, 2023, at the Uijeongbu District Court, Goyang Branch, where it was announced that Lee Gi-yeong had appointed two defense attorneys. Originally scheduled for February 15, the trial was postponed for a week due to a request for rescheduling by the defense attorneys. During the first trial on the 22nd, Lee Gi-yeong acknowledged all the prosecution's charges without objection. On April 12, 2023, the prosecution sought the death penalty for Lee Gi-yeong. On May 19, 2023, the first-instance court sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole.