Lee Choon-jae

The Hwaseong serial murders, perpetrated by the Hwaseong serial killer, is a still-unidentified serial killer and rapist who was active in the South Korean city of Hwaseong between September 15, 1986 and April 3, 1991.

Case History
The women, ages ranging from fourteen to seventy-one, were each found gagged, raped and murdered over a four-year and seven-month period in the rural city of Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Each victim was sexually assaulted and strangled to death with her own clothes. The evidence compiled from forensics pointed to a man in his late 20s to early 30s, about 165 to 175 cm tall, with blood type AB+.

The case is infamous within Korea for being the first truly identifiable string of murders with a modus operandi. Police officers involved spent two million man-days on the case. The total number of suspects also grew to enormous numbers, eventually ending with a total count of 21,280 individuals.

Until it was lifted in July, 2015 by the National Assembly, the statute of limitations for murder in Korea was fifteen years. The statute for the killings had expired on April 2, 2006, but police records were still kept due to the significance of the case. With the statute's lifting, cold cases have been re-visited.

In 2004, a female college student was murdered, sparking new interest in the Hwaseong serial murders, though the case also remains unsolved.

Modus Operandi
From the accounts of the few witnesses of known attacks, it is generally believed that the killer dressed in black clothing of various types (depending on the month), and wore a hood and/or black baseball cap (at least during the 1990, 9th murder). The Hwaseong killer’s usual pattern of attack, however, was to target Korean women and girls, strike when they were walking alone in secluded areas, rape and kill them via manual strangulation.

Profile
As a psychopath, the Hwaseong serial killer feels no guilt or sympathy for his victims. He displays traits of both a serial killer and a spree killer, having killed four victims within three months before waiting months, even years between others. He used a knife to threaten his victims and he may have committed suicide right after his killings ended. He usually targeted a specific, physical type rather than a certain demographic. In the same way, he also displays traits of both an organized and a disorganized offender; he never left survivors, he didn't bring his murder weapons with him, had enough presence of mind to attack his victims in secluded, dark locations and, most notably, has gotten away with the killings thus far. Since he brought no tools but his attacks were planned out strategically, the most accurate classification for him could be an organized classification. The murderer was a narcissist who craved attention and sought to make himself known by taunting the police, he did this by being the first serial killer in South Korea to have a truly identifiable modus operandi. His M.O. would indicate a military background, potentially specialized services. This would be either Navy or Army. Additionally, all of the Hwaseong killer’s confirmed murders took place on or near holidays or on a Saturday at night or the late afternoon, suggesting that he had a day-job or something else that kept him occupied during the week.

Known Victims

 * 1986
 * September 15: Lee Wan-I'm, 71
 * October 20: Park-Hyun-sook, 25
 * December 12: Kwon Jung-bon, 25
 * December 14: Lee Kye-sook, 23
 * 1987
 * January 10: Hong Jim-young, 19
 * May 2: Park Eun-joo, 29
 * 1988
 * September 7: Ahn Gi-soon, 54
 * September 16: Park Sang-hee, 14
 * November 15, 1990: Kim Mi-jung, 14
 * April 3, 1991: Kwon-Soo-sang, 63

Suspects
No suspects have ever been named in the case but it is known that the police once had a total of 21,280 suspects in the case.

On Criminal Minds
The Hwaseong serial killer bares several similarities to Hamilton Bartholomew ("Unknown Subject"). Both raped over nine people, were murderers, had a similar M.O., and both were Anger-Excitation and Power-Assertive rapists.