Heo Jae-pil was arrested by the police. /KBS
“If I hadn’t been caught, I would have killed more.”
April 30, 2002, when the whole country was excited ahead of the World Cup. In the early morning after midnight, two men hid in a parking lot in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. It looked suspicious to anyone who saw it. Those who were looking closely at the parked vehicles carefully removed the license plate from one vehicle. It was then. Employees of a private security company, who had watched the entire crime on CCTV, rushed in. One ran away to the hill behind the parking lot, but the other was caught after a fight.
The police who arrived after receiving the report took the man over. Then, we looked at the EF Sonata car that the criminals were driving. The police officers who opened the car door were shocked. There were four human bodies piled on top of each other in the back seat.
The trunk of the car used in the crime. /KBS
The tools of the crime, including a shovel, a hoe, and even twine, were also found. Credit cards, cash, and checks that appear to have been extorted from the victims were also found. When I opened the trunk, another body came out.
The name of the man caught at the scene is Heo Jae-pil. He was a 23-year-old young man with no criminal record. How did he commit this incredibly cruel crime?
Heo Jae-pil had a close older brother who first reached out to him to commit a crime together. The man who ran away from the parking lot was his accomplice, Kim Kyung-hoon.
Although they committed a crime together, their growing backgrounds were very different. Heo Jae-pil grew up in an unfavorable family environment, as his parents divorced when he was eight and he was raised by his stepmother. On the other hand, Kim Gyeong-hoon, who grew up in a wealthy family, fell into the wrong path while retaking the entrance exam after becoming an adult. At the young age of 28, he already had 7 criminal records, including sexual offenses and robbery, including committing a special robbery while serving in the military.
Whenever Kim Kyung-hoon committed a crime, he targeted money and women. This was the same for the crime committed together with Heo Jae-pil. At the time, the police analyzed that he seemed to have had the idea that he could easily get what he wanted by attacking a woman who was weaker than him.
Kim Gyeong-hoon, who ran away from the scene, hid in his younger brother’s house in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The next day, when the police chased him, he stabbed himself in the neck with a weapon. He was immediately taken to the hospital but died.
Heo Jae-pil, who was left alone, confessed all his crimes and was sentenced to death. The 23-year-old became a 47-year-old ‘unexecuted death row inmate’ this year.
A scene where the police subdue accomplice Kim Kyung-hoon. Kim Kyung-hoon committed suicide when the police arrived and was taken to the hospital, where he died. /MBC
◆”Would you do anything for money?”… The beginning of a ‘wrong meeting’
Heo Jae-pil and Kim Gyeong-hoon became close while working at a golf course. The two worked together for only about a month. Kim Gyeong-hoon, who joined the company first, said that he did not get along well with other co-workers until he met Heo Jae-pil.
Kim Kyung-hoon often expressed negative feelings toward the wealthy who came to the golf course as guests. He appears to have felt alienated and deprived, comparing his own situation, earning a monthly salary of about 1 million won, with the wealthy class who were his customers. There is an analysis that Heo Jae-pil and Kim Kyung-hoon shared these feelings and quickly became closer in a short period of time.
Heo Jae-pil had no criminal record, but he had debts. He has 8 million won in credit card debt that he used for entertainment expenses.
Kim Gyeong-hoon, who found out about this, held out his black hand. He suggested to Heo Jae-pil, “Since the salary is not much, let’s pay off the debt through robbery and use it for entertainment.”
Heo Jae-pil, who was struggling with debt, could not resist Kim Gyeong-hoon’s proposal. He thought it was impossible to repay his ever-increasing debt with a monthly salary of less than 1 million won. His mind was filled with the thought that if he succeeded once, all his problems could be solved.
Heo Jae-pil wrote about that time in his autobiography:
“Kyunghoon asked me if I would do anything to make money. “I said I could do it if it made a lot of money and didn’t cost much money.”
The two who came together like this committed their first crime on April 18 of that year.
The two prepared a car to use for the crime in advance and called Lee (32), a beauty salon owner whom Kim Kyung-hoon knew, saying, “Let’s go for a drive.” Kim Kyung-hoon took her Lee to the parking lot of the Yongin rest area on the highway.
The location of the crime was inside this car. When Kim Kyung-hoon stopped the car, Heo Jae-pil, who was hiding in the trunk, came out. The two men attacked Mr. Lee, stole his credit cards, and then strangled him with twine to death.
After the murder, the first thing they did was head to the ATM at the rest area. Using Mr. Lee’s credit card, 2.86 million won was withdrawn 12 times. Then we moved to a nearby mountain. It was to dispose of Mr. Lee’s body. The two worked together to roll Ms. Lee’s body down the slope and hit her several times with a shovel before burying her.
Until then, Heo Jae-pil felt quite guilty. Later, after he was caught by the police, he said, “When I think about it now, I think I was temporarily possessed and went crazy.”
But the guilt didn’t last long. In the second crime, before Kim Kyung-hoon murdered the victim, he even watched from outside while he sexually assaulted the victim in the car.
In the end, I became shameless. He later recalled in his statement, “The funny situation starts now.”
Statement written by Heo Jae-pil during the police investigation. /MBC
◆47 hours of madness… The money stolen after killing 5 people was only 2.5 million won.
The two committed their second crime on the night of April 27, nine days after their first crime. In the meantime, I prepared thoroughly in my own way. He stole taxi lights and license plates, attached them to a car belonging to Kim Gyeong-hoon, disguised it as a commercial taxi, and traveled around Suwon and Yongin.
All crimes were committed in a car.
The second victim was piano instructor Park (29). He mistook their car for a taxi and got into trouble. Heo Jae-pil and Kim Gyeong-hoon moved to a different destination than what Mr. Park said. When Mr. Park, who felt suspicious, resisted, she threatened him by swinging her fist at him.
The two stopped the car on the side of the road and took 20,000 won in cash and a credit card from Mr. Park. At this time, there was no guilt in either of their minds. On the contrary, out of concern that Mr. Park would report him, he was strangled to death with a piece of twine prepared in advance.
Mr. Park’s body was moved to the trunk of the car. Unlike the first crime, he did not immediately dispose of the body. Later, Heo Jae-pil explained the reason, saying, “I wanted to dispose of her body at once.” He then withdrew 500,000 won from his stolen credit card.
The crime continued the next day. The method was the same. Around 9 p.m., I picked up Mr. Lee (20), who was waiting for a taxi, and headed to the Yeongdong Expressway. After strangling Mr. Lee to death, they took 1.9 million won from his credit card.
Before searching for the next victim, Mr. Lee’s body was placed in the trunk along with the body of Mr. Park, who had been murdered earlier.
Heo Jae-pil and Kim Gyeong-hoon gained confidence as their crimes were not discovered and became increasingly bold. Eight hours later, at 5 am on the 29th, another crime was committed in a downtown area of Suwon City. This time, they took off the taxi lights and transformed into the ‘Yata tribe’. No one knew that there were two bodies in the trunk of the car they were riding in.
Heo Jae-pil performing on-site verification. /MBC
Heo Jae-pil and Kim Gyeong-hoon approached three women in their 20s, including Ahn (22), who were leaving a nightclub, saying, “Let’s have a drink.”
When the women got into the car, their true colors were revealed. He parked his car on the shoulder of the Yeongdong Expressway near Yongin Rest Area and committed the crime. Although the victims were superior in numbers, it was not enough to stop two adult men. Kim Gyeong-hoon and Heo Jae-pil robbed them of 120,000 won in cash, sexually assaulted them, and then strangled them to death.
The two moved Mr. Lee’s body from the trunk to the back seat, stacked the four bodies on top of each other, and covered them with a curtain. Everyone had their hands and feet tied with rope. It is not clear why Ms. Lee’s body was moved from the trunk to her backseat.
Over the course of 47 hours, Heo Jae-pil and Kim Kyung-hoon harmed as many as five women. However, the money they had in their hands was only 2.5 million won.
Even with the bodies piled up like a mountain, the two dreamed of their next crime. I thought, ‘I might get caught by the police, so I should change my license plate number.’ This time, I planned to use stolen license plates again. I didn’t expect to be caught in the parking lot where I was hiding like that. That’s how the two’s crimes came to an end.
Heo Jae-pil says “I’m sorry” in front of media cameras after on-site inspection. /MBC
◆He whispered, “We are robbers.”
“I feel relieved.” These were Heo Jae-pil’s first words when he was arrested by the police. He said, “I feel more at ease.”
On May 6, the police took Heo Jae-pil to an on-site inspection. He said he felt relieved, but he showed a 180-degree change in just one week. Standing in front of the media cameras, he lowered his head. “First of all, I would like to apologize to the victims. “I really resent myself for why I did that, and I’m sorry,” he said, crying. It was a belated apology.
However, his criminal behavior revealed during the on-site inspection seemed far from guilt.
The body, tied with twine, was rolled down a hillside and taken three times with a shovel. He also seemed to be cautious in taking the string used in the murder, fearing that his fingerprints might remain on it. He stated that during the last crime, before killing the victims, she whispered, “We are robbers.”
The method was too cruel to say I regret it now.
According to media reports at the time, Heo Jae-pil shed tears and asked for forgiveness while writing a confession.
This is what I wrote in my autobiography:
“I wanted to save him because he didn’t think he would report it, but he said he was anxious so I killed him.” “If I hadn’t been caught, I would still kill more people…” .”
Did Heo Jae-pil really reflect on himself? Were his tears truly tears of guilt and regret, or were they ‘crocodile tears’ filled with anger and regret over the discovery of his crime?
2024-01-27 20:50:00
#women #murdered #hours.. #loaded #taxi
