It Wasn't a Robbery-Murder, but a Revenge Plot Over a Motorcycle Dispute
A single motorcycle dispute cost a 35-year-old woman her life. The truth behind the 'trunk body' case, initially believed to be a robbery-murder, was a revenge plot stemming from a minor motorcycle collision. Behind the death of the woman in her 30s lay the grudge of Kim Il-gon (then 48), a man with 22 prior convictions.
It all began with a motorcycle collision in early May 2015 in Daerim-dong, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul. When Mr. A, a man in his 20s, scuffled with Kim, only Kim was fined 500,000 won through a 'summary order'—a simplified procedure that sets a fine without a full trial—and he refused to accept it. He repeatedly sent petitions to the presiding judge and visited the karaoke bar where Mr. A worked seven times over three months, demanding that he pay the fine on his behalf. He brandished a weapon but fled when Mr. A fought back. On September 20 that year, police officially announced that the case was a premeditated crime.
Believing he could not overpower Mr. A by force, Kim planned to abduct a woman and make her call Mr. A, posing as someone who wanted to work as a hostess at his karaoke bar, to lure him out. On August 24, 2015, he attempted to abduct a woman at a large supermarket in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, but she opened the car door and escaped. Two weeks later, on the afternoon of September 9, 2015, Kim threatened Ms. Ju (then 35) with a weapon in the underground parking lot of a large supermarket in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, as she was leaving after grocery shopping, and abducted her along with her car.
Near Cheonan, Ms. Ju got out of the car, saying she needed to use the restroom, in an attempt to flee, but was caught again. As her resistance intensified, Kim strangled her to death on a national highway near Wonju, Gangwon Province. The next day, he mutilated part of her body in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, then drove down to Ulsan and stole the license plate from another vehicle to put on his car.
Because the body was gruesomely mutilated, the case was at first assumed to be a murder driven by a personal grudge, but fingerprints left in the vehicle pointed to Kim, and the investigation shifted toward robbery-murder. On September 14, police put a 10 million won bounty on Kim and publicly sought his arrest. Throughout his time on the run, Kim used only cash, shunning mobile phones and cards, and traveled by public transport and on foot while hiding his face with a wig and hat. Then, on September 17, 2015, he swung a weapon at a veterinary clinic in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong District, Seoul, demanding euthanasia drugs, and was arrested by responding police. At the time of his arrest, a 'kill list' was found in his pocket bearing the names of 28 people—a doctor, detectives, judges, and others—who he believed had tormented him since 1992.
After his arrest, Kim said, 'I did nothing wrong. I should live longer.' His attitude did not change at trial. He refused even to meet with his lawyers and caused a disturbance, saying, 'Just sentence me to death.' The victim's family pleaded for severe punishment in court, saying, 'Kim is acting so brazenly.' Kim scored 33 out of 40 on a psychopathy assessment (PCL-R).
On June 1, 2016, the first-instance court ruled, 'It is more appropriate to make him repent for the rest of his life than to deprive him of life,' and instead of the death penalty, sentenced him to life imprisonment and 30 years of electronic anklet monitoring. That August, the appeals court also upheld the original verdict, pointing out that he 'targeted unspecified individuals and stoked public fear.' As neither side filed a further appeal, the sentence was finalized.
Eleven years have passed since the woman was killed in a case born of a minor motorcycle collision. Supermarket parking lots now have more emergency bells and CCTV cameras.
