Lee Choon-jae

Lee Choon-jae also known as "The Hwaseong Serial Killer" is a South Korean serial killer who was convicted of murdering his sister-in-law in 1994 and later confessed to killing 14 other people, including 9 in the Hwaseong serial murders between 1986 and 1991.

Case History of the Hwaseong Serial Killer
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 O-.

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.

The murders have remained unsolved until September 18, 2019, when the police announced that Lee Choon-jae was identified as a suspect in the murders. He was identified by a matched DNA sample from the underwear of one of the victims, which thus linked him to four of the nine unsolved murders. Although Lee was identified as the Hwaseong serial killer, he was already serving a life sentence at a prison in Busan for the 1994 murder and rape of his sister-in-law. Initially, he denied any involvement in the Hwaseong serial murders until he confessed on October 2nd, 2019, of killing 14 people, including 9 of the unsolved murders and 5 others. Although Lee's moniker as the Hwaseong serial killer was based on the murders in Hwaseong, only three of the murders happened in Hwaseong and two others happened in Cheongju.

As of October 2019, details about five of the victims have not been released due to the investigation being ongoing.

In addition to the murders, Lee also confessed to more than 30 rapes and attempted rapes.

Background
Not much information about Lee's past before his confession as the Hwaseong Serial Killer is revealed except that he was charged in 1990 for his involvement in a 1989 robbery, that he murdered and raped his 18 year old sister-in-law in 1994, and that at the time he was being identified as a suspect in the Hwaseong murders, he was already serving a life sentence in the Busan Prison.

Why He Stopped
There could be numerous explanations, but since it seems that the assailant was most likely a psychopath and the thrill of killing and raping women was pushing him to such extents of cruelty it is very unlikely that he stopped on his own. People with such deformed personalities do not simply stop - he is most likely to be dead since he did not return to killing.

But there are other explanations that are equally possible, but more distressing, for example, one theory is that he was locked up in a mental hospital after 1991, which leads to the conclusion that one day he could be released. Another theory is that he might have emigrated from South Korea after 1991, which could mean that he killed again, but in a different place or country, this is unlikely, however, if he were to have moved to another country he probably stopped killing.

Another option, albeit highly unlikely, is that after the 10th killing, something changed in his life and he did not need the thrill of hunting women anymore. Another equally unlikely option is, assuming that he was a psychopath planning the murders, that the police investigation was getting closer to him or the DNA tests scared him off the area and he relocated or stopped to avoid being captured and identified.

Modus Operandi
There were no witnesses to the 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 and maybe a ski mask to hide his face. The Hwaseong killer’s usual pattern of attack, however, was to target South Korean women and girls, strike when they were walking alone in secluded areas, rape and kill them via ligature strangulation. There is however another theory surrounding the killings - the fact that all of them took place during rainy nights and before the killings someone was ordering the same song to be played in the local radio. This would oppose the theories about the killer either acting on impulse or being retarded, but even if this is true the police did not manage to find any such links that would lead them to the assailant. There is one weak point of this theory - ordering the song on the rainy night is one thing, but how the killer could be sure that on that particular night he will find a victim - a woman walking alone in the secluded area? The police hypothesized that if the killer was playing the songs, it might reflect a childhood memory, the song may remind him of a certain event in his past, one that may have led to his murderous tendencies.

Profile
The killer likely came from a poor socio-economic background and was probably abused, he would have spent a lot of time torturing small animals as an outlet for his anger. His parents would likely have sought help for the boys problems but continued to abuse him when he didn't change, either his mother's involvement or negligence would have caused him to hate women. He was potentially incarcerated in a mental facility until the age of 21 if his problems were seen as severe enough by South Korean officials. He was likely in his late 20s to early 30s during the span of the attacks, the cruelty of his actions would suggest that the killer was (or is) most likely a psychopath. 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 most likely used a knife, gun or club to threaten his victims and he likely didn't commit suicide right after his killings ended, he likely stopped to avoid being captured. His victims always had at least one item of red clothing on them. In a similar manner, he also displays traits of both an organized and a disorganized offender; he left one survivor, didn't bring his murder weapons with him, but he had enough presence of mind to attack his victims in secluded, dark locations, restrain them and, most notably, has gotten away with the killings. Since he brought no tools but his attacks were planned out strategically, the most accurate classification for him could be an organized/non-social 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. He may have served in the military, if so it would likely have been in the Army and he would have likely received multiple complaints and been reprimanded for violence against women and torture.

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 (Note: This murder turned out to be done by a copycat)
 * November 15, 1990: Kim Mi-jung, 14
 * April 3, 1991: Kwon-Soo-sang, 63
 * 1994
 * January 13: Lee's unnamed sister-in-law, 18

Other Suspects in Hwaseong Serial Murders (Before Identification)
Out of the total 21,280 suspects, only one was ever named.
 * Park Hyeon-gyu
 * Born in 1958, to a poor family in Hwaseong.
 * Institutionalised during his childhood for torturing and killing animals as well as vandalising property.
 * Served in the military from 1978-1981 was discharged following investigations into brutality and torture, involved in the Gwangju massacre in 1980, alleged by comrades to have killed a number of civillians.
 * Was formerly a Police Officer before being fired in 1987 for torturing a suspect to obtain a confession and the alleged sexual assault of two teenage girls back in 1984.
 * Worked in a factory from 1987-1988. He then became a cable installer for Cri-Tech, Hwaseong Branch from 1988-1992. His employment history for the next two decades are unknown, potentially worked as a mechanic in Seoul or Hwaseong.
 * Was interviewed by police in 1990 shortly after the Kim Mi-jung murder and considered a strong suspect.
 * Never officially charged with the murders but remains the most likely suspect.

On Criminal Minds

 * Season Seven
 * "Unknown Subject" - While Lee Choon-jae has yet to be directly mentioned or referenced on the show, the case he was a part of appears to have been an inspiration for Hamilton Bartholomew ("Unknown Subject") - Both are killers and serial rapists with over nine victims, had a similar M.O. and targeted young women, and are both were classed as anger-excitation and power-assertive rapists, and were given nicknames by the media for their crimes.