A South Korean man who spent 20 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit has erased his name in court after one of the most notorious serial killers in the country confessed to the rape and murder of a girl. 13 years since 1988
SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean man who spent 20 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit has erased his name in court after one of the most notorious serial killers in the country confessed to rape and murder of a 13 compared to a year.
Yoon Seong-yeo, 53, was sentenced to life in prison and was released on parole in 2009. He listened quietly when Judge Park Jeong-je of Suwon District Court apologized on Thursday on behalf of the judiciary. because it caused him “immense physical and mental pain” because of the wrong verdict.
“The defendant is innocent,” Park said. Yoon’s acquittal provoked a standing ovation from his gallery supporters.
“I hope no one has to go through what we’ve been through and that all cases receive fair trials,” Yoon told reporters after the ruling.
Yoon, then a 22-year-old mechanic in the agricultural town of Hwaseong, was arrested in July 1989 after police accused him of raping and killing the girl in September 1988.
Between 1986 and 1991, 10 women of different ages were found raped and brutally killed in the Hwaseong area, and Yoon’s arrest took place as police faced huge public criticism over the failure to identify the serial killer.
Police have concluded that Yoon committed a heinous crime. Yoon pleaded not guilty, saying police investigators forced him to confess to a crime he did not commit. The Suwon District Court sentenced him to life in October 1989, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 1990.
The killings in Hwaseong appeared unresolved until police announced last year that Lee Chun-jae, a man who was serving a life sentence for killing his sister-in-law in 1994, had confessed to the crimes, including that of a 13-year-old girl. year. Yoon filed a new retrial in November last year.
Lee testified during Yoon’s retrial last month and repeated his confession.
The Hwaseong murders inspired the 2003 film “Killing Memories”, the work of director Bong Joon Ho, who won this year’s Academy Award for Best Picture for his dark comic thriller “Parasite”.