The Real-Life "Parasite” Is The Latest Serial Killer In South Korea - Case Of Lee Ki Young

Barabing, baraboo. This is a really creepy story and it's. just unfolding in South Korea right now. and it's all kind of revolving around a. pair of shoes. There were a pair of. women's shoes that seemed to be pretty. hard to get. It's not like they're. limited or super popular, but only 12. boutiques in all of South Korea sold. this particular women's shoe. Maybe this. was even like a selling point for the. buyers. Maybe they felt like they were. all in this exclusive club because only. 12 boutiques sell this shoe, right? It. seemed like a good purchase until every.

single one of those women, they get a. phone call from the police regarding. those very shoes. And it was strange the. police called and asked, "Oh, hi, is. this so-and-so? Did you buy the shoes at. this blank boutique?" The women are. like, "Yeah, uh how did you know where I bought it? And I'm sorry, why are the police. calling about a pair of heels? Like am I. in trouble right now?" The police told. the woman, "No, you're not in trouble. We're just investigating a case and we. need to make sure that you're alive and. well.". Okay, that is so strange. These same.

women would later turn on the news and. find out that the police were. investigating a serial killer and that. killer had a pair of these exact shoes. in his apartment. And the police. suspected it belonged to a victim. The police also found a dead body shoved. and locked into his apartment closet. Most of the women who own these shoes, they probably had no direct connection. with this alleged serial killer. They. probably had never even crossed paths, but something about that, I don't know.

It's just so freaky. Like a lot of. people have been talking about this in. South Korea because it would freak me. out, too. I I don't know if I could ever. even wear those same shoes ever again. Could you? Let's talk about South. Korea's newest alleged serial killer. He. was just arrested uh Christmas Day of. last year, so a few months ago. This is. currently unfolding as we speak. It's. such a very recent case and the killer, the alleged serial killer, it's just. bizarre. It's not even the fact that. this is South Korea's newest serial.

killer case in the past 20 years. I. don't think that they have arrested a. serial killer since 2004. So, that's. part of it, but the case itself is so. bizarre.

Full show notes are available at. rottenmangoepodcast.com, but um let's get into it. Like I said, it's unfolding as we speak, so there's. going to be updates. Let me know if you. guys want me to cover those, but I'm. just going to walk you through the case. in the order of how the case unfolded in. Korea. And it all starts with cats. Yeah, I know. Okay, every serial killer. story seems to come back to freaking. cats, but this one's a little bit. different. The story doesn't start with. a guy who's in his teenage years. torturing and skinning cats. Although if. news comes out that he did do this, I.

wouldn't be too surprised. But the story. starts with the alleged serial killer. Lee Ki-young. So, in Korean I Gi-young. There's actually a Korean actor by that. same name, so that was a whole thing. when he was arrested. But um we're going. to call him Lee. Lee's girlfriend is. trying to feed Lee's cats. We're going. to call her Tara. So, she's chosen to. remain anonymous in the media. There's a. bunch of pseudonyms out there for her, but Tara it is. December 25th, 2022, Christmas Day. It was really cold in. Korea this Christmas Day. I think it had.

a low of 14° Fahrenheit, so very cold. I. think everyone was just trying to get. into that Christmas spirit regardless. Tara had just moved in with this. boyfriend. Like just moved into his. apartment and it's in the greater Seoul. area in a place called Paju. And for her at least, for Tara at least, this Christmas was a good Christmas. It. was going to be one of the better. Christmases. She probably had. reservations about moving in so quickly. with the guy that she's been dating for. what, 3 4 months? So, technically in Korean standards,

they're moving really, really fast. But. I Gi-young is responsible. He's 31 years. old. He was also kind of a catch. He had. his life together, which by the way, he. comes from a wealthy family, so I don't. know how much Tara could attribute his. financial stability as hard work, but. still it doesn't hurt. It's something, right? And from Tara's perspective, he's. conventionally very attractive to the. point where when this case breaks, he. will be dubbed the K-pop killer. What? Why? Cuz he looks like a K-pop.

star? Yeah. Yeah, it's really, really. weird. Okay, so he's going to be dubbed. the K-pop killer, but from Tara's. perspective, he's conventionally. attractive and he just wants to settle. down. That's what he keeps telling her. "I just want to meet a nice girl and. settle down." So, the stability in the. relationship was comforting, maybe even. refreshing, right? He treated her really. well, just showering her with gifts, taking her out to see the city, staying. at these fancy hotels. He spoiled her. So, all of that is to say they're moving. really fast, but he was a good pick.

None of her family members, none of her. friends were like, "Whoa, whoa, this guy. is weird. You need to watch out. Like. this guy's moving too quick. Red flag.". They all thought that he was a really. good person. So, anyway, she's home alone in her new place, her. boyfriend's apartment that she just. moved into. So, she's probably unpacking. and organizing and she realizes, "Oh my. freaking god, the freaking cats." Okay, so Lee has three cats and a dog. And. she's like, "I I got to feed these. cats." So, she heads over to the kitchen. and she opens a cupboard, little. cabinet. No cat food. Another one. No.

cat food. She's like, "Where does he. keep this cat food? Why is it nowhere in. the kitchen? That's weird." She heads to. the pantry area. No freaking cat food. I. mean, does this cat eat human food? So, she's thinking, "What the hell? What are. these cats even eating?" She starts. looking everywhere in the apartment for. the damn cat food. And she's like, "Okay, I got to think like a man. Where. would I put the cat food?". There's this little hallway, a little. corridor type of area in his apartment. where it seems like he just puts a lot. of storage. That makes sense if he had. put the cat food there, right? So, she. spots this closet at the far end of the.

hallway and she starts walking closer. She's like, "Okay, maybe he put the cat. food in the closet." From the get-go, this closet is a horror movie level. closet. It's one of those wardrobes and. it has two doors and the door handles. are tied together with rope. That's not normal. I don't remember last. time I've been to a house that did that. Now, I don't know what made her open the. closet doors. Maybe she thought he had. tied it up with rope because the cats. are crafty and they were able to. constantly find a way into their food. That was something I was thinking or I.

don't know, maybe as a girlfriend I'd be. like, "What is this man hiding? Is there. some other girl's stuff in here? I want. to know.". And I'm sure the thought of calling him. and asking him like, "Hey babe, where's. the cat food?" I'm sure it crossed her. mind. But she was like, "You know what? Why. don't I just open this closet?" So, she. manages to undo all the rope, swings. open the doors, and it's literally, I don't know how to. describe it, but just straight out of. one of those Reddit no sleep stories. She nearly falls over backwards from. shock and honestly from the smell. She.

couldn't even think or move. She was. terrified. There in the closet was the decomposing. corpse of a man. In the closet of her. boyfriend's apartment that she had just. moved into was a dead body. I'm not sure. if she knew when I Gi-young was coming. home or what because I imagine after. opening those closet doors, I'd be so. terrified of him coming home and. catching me just staring into this. closet. Like finding out that I knew his. secret. Like I don't know what he would. have done. Tara does respond very.

quickly. She was frozen in fear for. maybe a few seconds. She said it felt. like eternity, but she snapped out of. it, ran straight to the couch, dives for. her phone and calls 112, the Korean. emergency line. The operator picks up. and the first words out of her mouth as. she remains very calm, she says, "There's a body in my boyfriend's. closet." The police soon arrive at the. scene and this is how the case of South. Korea's most recent serial killers was. blown wide open. Well, alleged serial. killer, but you'll see where I'm going. The police arrive at the scene and the.

first step other than detaining I. Gi-young is to identify the man in the. closet, the dead body. At this point, they don't know yet that I Gi-young is a. serial killer. They just know that he. most likely killed someone because. there's a dead body in his hallway. closet and the body was very quickly. identified to be that of Mr. T. So, his. real name is not available for the. public and has been redacted from. documents for privacy reasons, but Mr. T. because what we do know about the guy is. that he was a taxi driver. So, Mr. T, he. lived in a neighboring city and he was.

in his 60s. Yeah, so it. Originally, it's weird to draw the. connection. Like it doesn't even seem. like the same circle of friends. Why is. the 60-year-old in this 31-year-old's. closet? It's not his dad. It's not a. family member. What's going on? He was. reported, Mr. T was reported missing. just a few hours ago, Christmas morning. What? Mr. T's son walked into the police. station and begged them to find his. father. The police were a little bit. hesitant about this case, this missing. person's case because sure, Mr. T hadn't.

come home in 5 days and the family was. going crazy looking for him, but he was. still texting the family back. Wow, okay. And the son is trying to tell. the police, "That's not my dad texting. us. Like trust me, I know the way that. my dad texts. That's not my dad.". It seems to be concluded by the media. that since Mr. T went missing and maybe. the stage of decomposition matched, Mr. T was probably killed 5 days ago. on December 20th. They asked Tara, "What. was I Gi-young, your boyfriend, doing on. December 20th and how has he been acting.

for the past few days?". Tara's like, "December 20th? Are you. sure? My boyfriend went out to dinner. with me and my parents that night on. December 20th. It was a good dinner. I. was really happy about the dinner. Um. Lee proved to be very charming with my. parents. They really liked him. They. believed he was the right guy for me and. he was the type that would take care of. me. Wait, I'm sorry, you said he killed. someone on December 20th? That doesn't. make sense." She was also asked about. his behavior the past few days and she. said, "No, absolutely nothing about his. behavior since that night seemed.

abnormal in anyway. In fact, he was. probably more upbeat than usual because. Christmas was just right around the. corner." I don't know if this was. automatically chilling for Tara, but for. the police it was. Because if someone. kills another human being and for the. next 5 days they feel comfortable moving. their girlfriend in into the apartment. where they have a corpse rotting in the. closet, they feel comfortable enough to. leave her alone at said apartment to. explore and potentially discover that. said corpse. But also, this person is. showing zero signs of distress or panic.

after committing a murder? Yeah. That. doesn't sound like a first-time murder. even for a developing serial killer. Exactly. Meaning, there's probably more. victims, right? So, the police rush to. track down Lee Gyeong and they detain. him. And what's really frustrating about. this case is that starting now, it feels. like Lee Gyeong is just toying with the. police. He starts dropping little Easter. eggs for the police to pick up on and. some of the Easter eggs are real. evidence. So, when he was detained, he. was just here, take me. Oh, yeah, so calm. He wasn't even like, "I didn't do it.".

He's just like, "Okay, let me go in." He. sits down, he's like, "Yeah, okay, so. let's talk about it. You're talking. about the taxi driver, right?". Some of the Easter eggs he's dropping, they're evidence, some are nothing, some. are just straight-up eggshells. Like. he's sending them on wild goose chases. starting now, so it's just going to be. very infuriating. And it feels like the. police have to peel back the layers of. this rotten onion just layer by layer. and even try to figure out who the hell. this guy is. Nobody knows who this guy. is. And it's weird because imagine you're. sitting in front of someone, you have.

their documents, you have their ID, you. have everything, but not a single person that you talk to. actually knows who this guy is. Like who the hell is this guy? Mhm. So, it it's really creepy. Lee was. incredibly calm when he was brought in. The investigators tried all sorts of. tactics with him, but he just didn't. even break a sweat. He told them. bluntly, "The taxi driver? Yeah, I. killed him. I did. But I didn't want to. kill him. It was a spur-of-the-moment. decision, a crime of passion, if you. will. I was just very angry." He went on.

to tell them what happened the night of. December 20th, so the night that he went. out to meet Tara and her family during. dinner. And some of his story was. confirmed by CCTV from the restaurant. and the street cameras. There's a lot of. CCTV in Korea. But other parts were. clearly lies. We'll get into that later. Lee said that he went out to dinner with. Tara's family and he started drinking. soju. That's like a thing, you got to. make a good impression, so he's drinking. shot after shot. And you can see that on. CCTV, like he's just chugging these. drinks. He took multiple shots of soju, getting. drunk. Tara's parents still really like.

the guy, so I guess he's not acting. super intoxicated. But the problem was, the dinner ends at around 11:00 p.m. And. now Lee has to drive a few towns over to. get back home to Pagol. CCTV catches Lee. saying bye to Tara and her family and. start making his way to his parked car. If you listened to the last episode, there was a service in South Korea. called Tirunjan. It's very common and. it's rather affordable. It's like. getting a regular Uber where you call a. driver to drive your car home for you. and you ride as a passenger. So that the.

next morning when you wake up hungover, your car is in the parking lot. For some. reason, Lee did not want to do that. He. wanted to drive all the way home, which is even stupider when you find out. the fact that Lee wasn't supposed to be. driving in the first place, sober or. not, it's illegal. Lee had already. received two DUI charges in the past and. on December 20th of 2022, his license. was actively suspended. So, he wasn't. supposed to be driving at all, sober or. not. But I mean, this guy is a killer or. a suspected serial killer. I mean, they've never really been adverse to.

taking risks, right? So, he gets into. the car. He starts driving home. He. could barely see the road, that's how. drunk he is. He's recklessly driving and. at one point on the trek home, he. approaches a red light. Now, this. particular intersection, he's trying to. make a right turn, but it's illegal to. make a right turn at a red light. It's. one of those big intersections. There's. a huge sign, no right turn during a red. He completely ignores this, makes a. right turn and a taxi driver who's. coming straight in the opposite. direction bumps into him, slams into the.

side of his car. Oh my. The taxi driver was the taxi was driven. by Mr. T and the whole accident was. caught on CCTV. Now, the crash sounds. dramatic and it was, but it wasn't that. severe. So, neither party were hurt and. the cars the taxi car was more damaged. than Lee's car, but it wasn't totaled, right? So, they're just really dinged. up. Both Lee and Mr. T are caught on. camera getting out of their cars very. much alive. They assess the damage on. their cars and again, the taxi driver's. car is more damaged than Lee's. And.

immediately Lee starts profusely. apologizing to the cab driver. Like, "Please, don't call the police." Because. he's probably going to get arrested. This is like his third DUI. And he. suggests that they settle this. privately. Now, sometimes in South Korea, if you. don't want to get the police or the. insurance companies involved, the party. that was at fault for the accident will. pay you under the table in a big lump. sum of cash. So, you take the cash, you get your car. fixed, maybe you go to a chiropractor. appointment or two. And hopefully you. have enough left over for yourself. It's. not uncommon. So, Lee is suggesting that.

they settle it privately and he's. hinting to the cab driver that not only. is he going to give him enough cash to. fix his car, but he'll throw in some. more for emotional damage. Mr. T's entire career and family depend. on this cab. I'm sure there's a part of. him that was intrigued by this offer. The fact that they would settle it. through cash, Mr. T would be able to get. his car fixed faster than having to go. through the lengthy insurance processes, meaning he was going to be able to get. back to work quicker. And maybe maybe. the guy is going to give him a little. bit more money. He has a bunch of sons. he has to support and his wife at home.

So, he's like, "Okay, you know what? I'm. not going to call the cops. I'm a. reasonable man, right? I'm not calling. the cops.". Lee smiles at him and says, "Okay, great. Why don't you get in your taxi. car and follow me back to my place? It's. in Pagol. I don't have cash on me right. now, everything is back home.". Mr. T hesitates cuz it's pretty late. It's not really comfortable following a. stranger back to his house, but Lee. keeps assuring him, "I'm so sorry, sir. Like please, truly I assure you you're. going to be compensated well, generously. for your trouble.". Mr. T thought the guy looks friendly, he.

looks genuine enough and. I mean, it's not like he's a 20-year-old. girl, he's a 60-year-old man. What would. this 30-year-old dude want to do with. him, right? He's like, "Okay, fine." He gets in the. taxi car, follows Lee all the way to his. house. Both of them are seen on CCTV. driving towards Lee's apartment and even. spotted entering Lee's apartment parking. lot. There's even CCTV of them making their. way through the building garage, down. the hallway and into the building. elevator. Korea's filled with CCTVs. Like if you're going to pick your nose. in a hallway, there's probably a CCTV.

So, all of this is caught on CCTV. How. did he still think he can get away with. something like this? Is They don't know. each other. Technically, they're. strangers. They wouldn't track it down to him? I guess that's what his thinking. It's a little bizarre. Okay. So, there's CCTV of Lee in the. elevator with Mr. T on his way up to his. apartment and both of them look very. relaxed and casual. It's very scary to. think about. They walk out of the elevator and that. is the last time Mr. T, the taxi driver,

was ever seen alive. Here's the chilling part. Lee is seen again on that same elevator. CCTV camera 20 minutes later. He gets. back into the elevator, he's completely. alone this time, goes down to the. garage. So, a couple of things can be. gathered from this. One, he killed Mr. T. in 20 minutes. He was able to clean up. the blood and hide the body in the. closet after killing him in 20 minutes. Second, he seemed incredibly calm, relaxed on the CCTV camera. He doesn't. even seem shaken, frazzled. He's not.

pacing or looking around or like. anxiously like fidgeting. He seems so calm. You would never guess. that this man just killed someone. And third, he was now going downstairs. to get rid of the remaining evidence. So, Mr. T's taxi car that was parked in. the apartment building's garage, he just. needed to get rid of it. And side note, I just think it's so scary. So, like. when you're out in public, there's. technically three groups of people, right? And the first group, they look calm. because they did nothing wrong. They. didn't commit a crime. The second group,

those are like the sketchy ones. Those. are the ones that we think are the worst. criminals. Like they keep glancing. around, they look so suspicious, they. probably committed a crime. But the scariest group, the people that. look calm, so you suspect they have. nothing worried, that they never. committed a crime, they didn't just get. done killing someone, but in reality they they did. That's the. scariest group. We don't even realize. it. We think the second group is the. creepiest. We're like, "Why is that guy. just making such weird eye contact?". So, the story made sense and it was. corroborated later by CCTV. This is what.

he's telling the police. Like, "I. brought him to my apartment and I killed. him." The police are like, "Okay, we. found the CCTV. It makes sense. You. killed him in your apartment. Yeah, okay. But the motive is still unclear. Why did you kill the nice taxi man? He. went out of his way to help you. He. literally could have just called the. police. He would have gotten his car. fixed through insurance. You would have. been at fault. You probably would have. been arrested. What?" Mhm. Lee said that. once they got to his apartment, the taxi. man started blackmailing him. He started. demanding a lot more money than what. they had initially agreed on and even.

threatened to call the police. Lee said that he told Mr. T that he. didn't have that kind of money. That was. just too much money. Mr. T was allegedly. not having it. He kept threatening, "I'm. going to call the police.". Lee said he started panicking. Considering his previous two DUIs and. his troubles with the police, he just. felt so cornered. He said he grabbed a. heavy blunt object laying around and. started hitting Mr. T on the head until. he lay there motionless. Lee's like, "I. did this out of pure rage. It was a. crime of passion. This was not. premeditated.".

Initially, the motive, the story, it. made sense to the police. Not like a moral sense of like, "Oh. yeah, I can see why you did that." But. more of like, "Okay. Okay, I I I guess. that makes sense." But they would soon. realize this guy is a full-blown. narcissistic pathological liar and a. potential serial killer. They start. doing their investigations, their due. diligence, and they realize that that's. not what happened at all. There were so. many holes in Lee's story. First of all, after digging into Lee, they find out that he never keeps cash.

at home, like ever. So, the fact that he. told Mr. T to come to his apartment to. get the cash, that already is a lie. You don't tell someone to come to your. apartment to pick up cash when you know. 100% you don't even have cash at home. So, why would he invite Mr. T over? It's. like he was stringing him along knowing. damn well that he wasn't going to pay. him for the damages. He was taking him. home to end his life. There's not many other plausible. theories. Lee then killed the 60-year-old, cleaned. up the blood, hid his body, and within. 20 minutes he left his apartment to.

cover up his tracks. He went down to the. garage, got rid of Mr. T's car. CCTV. cameras caught him driving the cab and. disposing of it at a nearby parking lot, like a vacant parking lot. Before he. left the car, he deleted the black box. in the car, which South Korean law in. every single car it not only records. video and audio in case of car accident, but it's also linked to the car's GPS. So, it measures everything, vehicle. speed, location, distance traveled. It. basically tracks everything. Lee. manually deleted all the data on the.

black box before leaving the car. I didn't know you could delete those. Yeah. Huh. Wow. Okay. But I I guess if you delete it, you're. suspicious, you know? And since. everybody has a black box, if you get. into a car accident, just because you. delete yours doesn't mean that you're. not at fault, right? Okay. But yeah, he. deleted it. And he also took Mr. T's. phone with him. He used Mr. T's phone. and unlocked it with Mr. T's face after. he was dead, which is very chilling. Then using Mr. T's face for the face ID,

Lee changed the security lock code, the. password of the phone. And the phone. served a few purposes. The main one. being in South Korea, fintech, like. finance technology, is. scary efficient, maybe too efficient for. its own good. You can basically take out. loans using just your phone without ever. having to even step foot inside a bank. to confirm your identity. So, with Mr. T's phone, his ID, and his credit card, Lee was able to pull about 50,000 US. dollars in the form of a loan. That was. the main purpose. The second purpose was. so that Lee could pretend that Mr. T was.

still alive. He would use Mr. T's phone. to send messages to Mr. T's family, his. wife, and his sons. The police said that. they were really heartbreaking messages. Mr. T's son constantly was trying to. reach out, worried for his father. He. just kept asking, "When are you coming. home? Is everything okay? Like, I'll. come to you. You don't Like, if you did. something wrong, it's okay. Like, we can. help you. What's wrong?". Lee would respond to him just really. weird, out of character responses, such. as, "I don't have battery. I can't. respond right now. I'm not coming home.". I think after a few of these messages, the family realized that there was no.

way that this was Mr. T responding to. them. Something was off. So, finally, after five long days, Mr. T's family. reported him missing to the police. The. son told the officers, "Please, my. father hasn't been home for days, and I. just texted him, but I know I know. that's not him texting me back. I know it's not him.". During the five days that Mr. T was. murdered and shoved into the closet, Lee. was busy not only responding to Mr. T's. family as Mr. T, impersonating him to. try and convince them to not worry about.

his absence, but he was also busy. spending the money that he got out in. Mr. T's name. He took Tara out to dine. at the most expensive restaurants. He. did a staycation at a five-star hotel. with Tara. They even bought $5,000. couple rings. So, Tara's thinking to herself, "I found. myself one of the good ones.". She was over the moon thinking her. boyfriend was this kind and caring. person. I mean, she had no clue where. this money was coming from or how. sinister the reality of the situation. was. Needless to say, the police did not. think that these actions were of.

somebody who just killed in the spur of. the moment. This feels like a killer who. knows what they're doing. They lured a. victim to a private space, killed them. quickly and efficiently, and then had a. protocol in place on what to do. afterwards, for how to erase their. tracks, how to get as much money as. possible from that victim. The very next. day, authorities started their process. of. just turning over every stone, really. They wanted to know everything and. anything about E Ki-young. And they. uncovered another creepy piece of the.

puzzle. The house, the apartment that Mr. T's. body was found, the one that E Ki-young. was living in, it wasn't even owned by. him. He wasn't even renting it, either. The contracts for this place were all. signed by a woman. Her name has also. been redacted for privacy reasons, but a. lot of sources refer to her as Miss J. Can you guess where this is going? Another victim? Miss J, a 50-year-old woman, has signed. for the apartment, and the alarming part. is the police say that she hasn't been. physically seen alive in months. She had.

kept posting on her socials, but her. friends and family, they've all been. worried about her. They had no idea what. was going on with her. She was acting. strange, refusing to talk to them, see. them in person. The whole thing is. starting to feel eerie. They bring E. Ki-young back into the interrogation. room, and they're very blunt with him. The apartment you're living in, it's not. yours. It's registered under somebody. else's name. So, what happened to her? Lee didn't even seem remotely stressed. He's like, "Oh, okay. You want to talk. about Miss J? Oh, yeah. She's my.

ex-girlfriend. We live together in that. apartment. Okay. Where is she now? She's. been missing and hasn't been seen in. months. Where is she? Oh, yeah. I killed her. The police said that he was emotionless. This is his ex-girlfriend. He's. emotionless. And Lee went on to tell. them how back in August of 2022, so, Mr. T was found December of 2022. August of. 2022, him and Miss J, which side note, he's 31 and she's 50, 20-year age gap, which is fine, they're both adults, but.

it seems more like a sugar mama, sugar. baby relationship more than anything. Neighbors do report hearing them calling. each other honey and baby and all these. other endearing terms, but Lee said that. they had been dating for about four. months when he murdered her, yet again, out of rage. He keeps trying to say that. all of these are crimes of passion. Like, I don't know if this guy is trying. to chalk up being a serial killer to. just being passionate, but it's getting. out of hand. Lee was asked, "Okay, well, where is her body now?" He responded. that he had thrown her into the river. inside of a duffel bag. When the.

neighbors were asked about Lee, side. note, um they all expressed shock. They. were like, "Oh, well, when he moved in. with Miss J, he was really nice. Like, we had no idea we were living next to a. potential serial killer." They said he. was polite, always bowed to the elderly, like very um his insa was very good. And. he seemed very friendly, very smiley. guy. The only horrible thing about him. that they could all confirm was that, and it's hardly connected to being a. serial killer, was that he smoked. He. smoked indoors a lot. They complained, "God, did he smoke?" He would smoke.

cigarettes in literally in Miss J's. bathroom, and all the bathroom vents in. the apartment are connected, so it would. just travel floor to floor of the. bathrooms. It was so bad. If you were. even on the same floor as Miss J's unit, you could smell the smoke from the. hallway. But recently, we thought it was. Christmas spirit started smelling like. roses. But you know, not like the. flowers, but the very artificial, chemically strong, like an air freshener. that was rose scented. We thought maybe. it was a New Year's resolution that he.

was going to stop smoking. We thought. maybe Christmas spirit, he's going to. have people over. Then this started. after the murder of Mr. T? Yeah. Now. they know in hindsight that it was he. was using the artificial rose smell to. cover up the smell of the rotting corpse. in his closet. The police wasted no. time. They immediately deployed. countless search troops to try and find. Miss J's body in the river. They. deployed helicopters, divers. They tried. to cover as much of the river as they. possibly could, but this is December of. 2022. Now, side note, the river that he.

named where he allegedly dumped Miss J's. body is not the Han River, which it runs. directly in the middle of Seoul. This. was called um Gongneungcheon. River, something like that. It's in. Paju. It's near the North Korean border. This is important later. Oh my gosh. Yes. So, it's freezing. They got a bunch. of troops near the border. The. temperatures are below freezing. A lot. of parts of the river were frozen shut. But adding to the difficulty of this. search was that um there's active.

landmines because it's the border. I. don't know I I they can't confirm, but. there is the danger of active landmines. Okay, but he went over there. Regardless. he claimed. Oh. And so, the police are searching over. there, but the search is not going well. because of all these things, the. temperature, the frozen river, the. having to deploy helicopters, divers, and the fact that it's on the border, meaning that they have to be careful of. active landmines. It's like a behemoth. of a search. They're not going well. Meanwhile, news breaks of a potential.

serial killer in holding, and the public. is freaking out, rightfully. One of the. main points of contention in this case, at least with netizens, is the fact that. in 2019, South Korea passed an. authoritative interpretations act. What? Okay, in order for the government to. release a suspect's photo to the public, the police has to get permission from. the suspect. That is so bizarre. How did. that even come about? it's the whole innocent till proven. guilty type of mindset, but hear me out, right? This guy confessed. He confessed.

to two murders, okay? So, and maybe in. other cases Koreans were a little bit. more like, "Mm, still feel a little. weird about it." It seems like most. Koreans don't like this law. So, with. the current law, the suspect cannot be. forced to release their names, release. their mugshot, or any pictures of them. unless they are officially go to trial. and sentenced. And even then, there are other. protection acts in place. It it it just. depends case by case. But they don't. even have to show their face when. talking to the press or maybe making. public appearances that are required.

during this case. So, basically, a. potential serial killer could just. refuse to not let his photograph be. released and choose to stay anonymous. Since 2019, since this act passed, which. I know it feels like last year, but it's. been multiple years since then, only one. criminal has agreed, one suspect has. released to release his pictures. Not. only that, you get to pick which picture. gets released. Like you know how in the. US you get arrested, your mugshot is. everywhere? Mhm. You get to pick your. picture and everyone chooses like the. cutest little picture. So, the odds aren't looking great with.

Lee releasing his, you know, identity. Of course, he refused. Now, I do think. the press and public would have been. less angered by Lee's decision and this. law if he hadn't outright confessed to. killing two people. If he was like, "I. didn't do it. You have the wrong people. You have the wrong person. Like it. wasn't me." then maybe the netizens. would have been like, "Okay, let's just. wait till trial." Because he's saying. it's not him and he like brings up a. good few points. Maybe this is like. police coercion. But he straight-up was. like, "It's me.". So, now you confessed to killing two. people, but you want the public to.

respect your privacy? Did you respect. the public when you committed those. murders? Like did you ask for. permission? He said that he was refusing. to release his identity because he. didn't want his family to be. disappointed or to know about his. crimes, which is a bizarre reasoning. Like you care about what your family. thinks? I'm fine. You can hide from the. general public, but how do you hide. these crimes from your own family? Like. you're in prison. Netizens were furious. There was a lot of conversation on this. act that was passed, on this act itself, and should these suspects really be. given that much privacy? Really? Like is.

it necessary? There's a debate over what should and. should not be released to the media, but. there was still a chance that the public. could see his face and all of those. times are during police-escorted press. conferences. So, technically there's. loopholes in this law. He could be like, "No, I don't want to release my. identity." But when he's being. transferred from police custody to the. courthouse, if he's not good at covering. up his face and the the press get a. shot, they can post it cuz you're in. public space, dude. Mhm. It's a public. area.

Uh that's why they always have a bag. over the head and all that. Uh they always have a giant parka. The. hood is over their face. They've got. giant face masks. And that's exactly how. he shows up to the next court hearing. And you can see him in the pictures when. he's being escorted to court, completely. covered up. A lot of netizens were. angered because again it's like, "Hey, you admitted to killing an elderly man. and now you want us to respect your. privacy? I don't really think so.". The only thing that he said during this. interaction with the press was he said, "I'm sorry for the murders I committed.".

Netizens kept screaming at the cops. Like take off his hood. And the officer said, "We talked to him. about taking off his mask, but he. refused. We have to respect his. decision.". People were like, "Why are we giving. these people choices? Don't give them a. choice to reveal their identity or not. if you confess to murdering two people. This is part of public safety. Does the. government care about public safety or. privacy rights of killers?" Now, there's. more on this debate later because. clearly we have a ton of pictures of.

this guy. But we'll get to it later. Lee Ki-young was officially indicted on. charges of homicide by robbery, revenge. killing, abandoning dead bodies, falsifying documents, fraud, and. violations of information communication. networks, and credit card laws. He could. be facing life in prison or even the. death penalty. Now, although the charges were made public, he still was not even named in the. media. And a photo of him wasn't released at. this point. At the same time, searches. for Miss J's body are still going.

strong. Side note about this whole. debate. People were saying the police. kept coming out and begging the the. public to give up any information they. have on this case. And the public is. like, "How do you want us to do that. when we don't know what this guy looks. like? Do you want us to just take a. guess? You know what? I did see a. suspicious guy at the convenience store. Maybe it's this guy." Like what do you. what do you mean? Yeah. So, that was another thing netizens were. like, "What are you saying right now?". Anyway, they're looking for Miss J. Nothing is. coming up. Not a single thing had been. found, not even a single clue. They were.

wasting precious time, resources trying. to figure out where Miss J's body was, and maybe Miss J wasn't even in the. river. When they confronted Lee again, he casually just said, "Actually, you. know what? I didn't throw her in the. river. Now that I think about it, I. remember digging a shallow grave on the. riverbank and I buried her next to the. river." Wow, come on. The investigators. are agitated. I mean, he's suddenly. changing his story. They don't even know. if they should trust this version of. events. Lee went on to describe exactly where he.

buried Miss J's body and he sat back in. the chair and he like cocked his head. and he said, "This is my last gift to. you guys." This guy is clearly enjoying. the feeling of power, of toying with the. police. He felt like he was the only one. that had answers to questions that they. needed to know. This is often why. narcissistic killers will taunt the. police even after being caught. They. send them on these wild goose chases. Sometimes it's just to prolong the. experience of the police needing them. Of being the guy with the answers. He got off on the attention, the power.

he felt with the only one with this type. of information, and he's now acting like. he's the good guy. He's throwing them a. bone, helping them out. He felt like he was smarter than the. police. Also, when killers do this, a. lot of experts believe it's to feel like. they're in control because ultimately. when they're caught, you're no longer in. control. You don't even have the freedom. to control when you take a shower or. when you eat or when you poo. So, him. toying with the police makes it seem. like he's in control of this operation. He's the head boss. This is exactly what he wanted. He's.

like, "I can make these guys do things, search places that are going to come up. empty. They're going to get frustrated. and I get this emotional reaction out of. them.". And it's shitty because what are the. police going to do? Just not listen? They have to search the area. So, they go. They look for the shallow. grave where Miss J was allegedly buried. and they send out troops, K9 units. They. spent all day and just they searched the. full radius of where Lee claimed she was. buried and they found absolutely nothing. yet again. They're getting fed up with. this guy. They drag Lee out to the river.

and they have him find the burial site. himself. They're like, "Point it out.". While there, Lee's walking around and. there's there's pictures of this. He's. handcuffed. There's a whole team of. police officers, like a dozen, a whole. police force. But. he starts walking around confidently. He points at a spot on the ground. He's like, "That's where I buried her.". There was nothing found at that site. Nothing. So, did he forget where he. buried her or is he just messing with. the police and having fun? It's speculated that he probably did. something to Miss J's body that wouldn't.

match up with him killing her in a bout. of rage. Mhm. Maybe he had done something worse with. the disposal of her body. Um. sometimes when killers will dismember. someone or do something very gruesome, they'll try to cover it up. Or maybe he. had done something to her before she was. killed or right after she was killed. that would clearly indicate that his. lies were not the truth. So, is he just stalling for as long as. possible? The police were frustrated. They throw. him in the back of a police car and they. continue with their search. Now, it's.

hours he's inside this police car. He looks around. And he figures, okay, I'm probably. alone. I don't see anyone. He's feeling. hot and stuffy in the car. He lowers his hood, takes off his mask. There were reporters. hiding in the distance with super zoom. lenses. No freaking way. Yes. They captured photo after photo of. this guy in the police car and his. identity was finally revealed. Okay, so they took that photo in the car.

and then then people like, "I know this. guy. Here's his photo." That's how they. found everything. Yes. And once. Wow. Yeah. Once this leaked into the media, Lee was like, "Oh, I want to release my. identity." Again, that whole power, like. he wants to feel like he's the one. making decisions. Yeah, he knew the game was up. He. formally gave permission to reveal his. name to the public and again, he's just. trying to feel like he's in control and. he chose his ID picture. to be released. So, in the US more often. than not, your mugshot gets plastered,

right? And your ID is also probably just. as bad as your mugshot. Okay, like my ID picture is so. disgustingly gross. It It's probably. nobody's This is my profile pic. It's my. ID picture. But in South Korea, you can. choose to release any picture and people. typically choose their driver's license. picture. because you can edit your driver's. license picture. It's South Korea law. It's legal for you. to edit and Photoshop your driver's. license picture. Yeah. It It just can't. be too drastic where you look like Kim. Kardashian when you're not, but to a. degree.

So, he releases that. And if this case wasn't already viral, it would be with the release of his ID. Because since the day of him being taken. into custody, news media outlets, netizens, social media forums, everyone. is calling this guy an utter vile. monster, like a disgusting piece of. sewage rat. I think everyone had a clear. picture of what they thought he was. going to look like, like a sewage rat. And then his picture was released. He. looks like a K-pop idol. And look, I'm not even going to I'm not. even going to go down the rabbit hole of. like I feel like we've traveled down. this road one too many times. How could.

this killer be evil when he's so. conventionally attractive? There's so. many crime documentaries where the whole. premise is, "He's a monster, but like. look how cute he is." I think he's okay. He's okay-looking at best. If you guys. are listening to the audio version, I'll. describe him as best as I can. I do. think that he fits all the conventional. attractive standards for Korean beauty. He's tall, incredibly symmetrical facial. features, sharp jawline, a lot of hair, like thick jet black hair, and clear. skin. So, with this picture, everyone.

collectively loses their minds. Now, I. do see where people are coming from. I. do think that there's an element of we. think that we know what creepy people. look like. We stay away from those. people. We stay away from that strange. creepy-looking dude acting weird in the. dark corner of the parking lot. We stay. away from the guy that makes way too. much eye contact and licks his lips in. the grocery store. We think these people. are creepy because we think we can spot. out creepy people. It's hard to say that Lee Ki-young is. creepy-looking. So, a lot of people had.

this collective thought of, "Oh my god, if I met this guy, I probably would have. lowered my guard because he looks so. normal. I mean, in fact, I think he. looks handsome. I would have trusted. him. I'd probably go to his house to get. accident money. He looks like a normal. person." Now, another thing to note. about South Korea is that I'm sure this. exists everywhere, but in South Korea. there's even a word for it. It's called. insang. It's a little bit different from first. impressions. Insang means just based off. of someone's facial features and how. they sit on their face and their resting. face, you can tell what kind of energy.

they give off, what vibe they have. And. I'm sure there is more to it, but. sometimes I hear my mom talking about. you know, this person's insang is this. And all I'm thinking is, wow, insang is. just code word for pretty privilege. Like all the parts that she's pointing. out are like, oh, their insang is good. because, you know, their face looks like. this. And I'm like, those are just. conventionally attractive features, mother. Mhm. So, I think his insang looks trustable. And that's not to say Koreans are naive. and just trust anyone that's attractive, but I'm sure everyone everywhere has. these biases. It's like a human bias.

Yeah. So, his You can't avoid it. Yeah. His picture basically lit the. internet on fire. The internet does the. thing of investigating alongside the. police. So, we're going to break this. down into two parts. The police. investigation, the netizen. investigation. Let's start with the police. The. investigators are under a lot of. pressure now to figure out this case. And I will say I'm pretty shocked at how. thorough the investigation has been on. this one. Why? I mean, they do I can't even point out.

where they went wrong. Okay. That's good, right? mean, it's good, but I'm just shocked. like where was this energy for a lot of. other cases we talked about, but like. they're pulling out all the stops on. this one. The police start tracking. Lee's movements prior to his arrest. They find CCTV of him at a restaurant. before his arrest. So, this is after T's. murder. and the 5 days before his arrest. The. interesting incident stands out to them. because so far it seems like Lee was not. that close with anybody. He wasn't close. with his family. He wasn't even that. close with Tara. She barely seemed to.

know him. Everything he had told her was. a lie. So, she didn't even know the real. him. Nobody knows the real him, like I'm. saying. So, the police are like, look at this. guy. Which side note, remember how Lee. told everybody including Tara that his. parents were wealthy? They're not. So, again, who is this guy? Police stumble upon CCTV in a Korean. barbecue restaurant. And there is Lee. sitting with a group of six of his. friends. They come in together, sit. down, and start sharing a meal. Friends. Maybe these people know. something about him. CCTV shows them.

taking soju shots, having fun. It seems. like a regular boys night out. But then. it gets weird. Near the end of the meal, the six friends just collectively get up. and leave when Lee is preoccupied with. something. They just ghost him in the. middle of the meal. What What do you mean? and leave. So, he. goes to the bathroom. Lee goes to the. bathroom, and these six friends, they're. like, let's go. They get up and leave. They're not even done eating their meal. Okay. So, they don't want to pay. It seems like it, right? And Lee is. forced to cover the entire dinner tab.

He goes inside, pays for the meal cuz. they were outside dining. Then he goes. back outside, and for a few minutes he. eats a little bit more alone, and then. he leaves. The police find another CCTV camera that. shows the street view, and it shows that. Lee walks away and the six guys are. standing at the end of the block just. talking on the sidewalk. Lee calmly. approaches his friends, and he starts. freaking out on them. I mean, I guess. this part is understandable. He's seen. on CCTV getting in their face. The. friends slam him to the ground to get. him to back off, and when he's down, the. friends start quickly running off. Then.

Lee gets back up wildly motioning his. arms like he's shouting something at the. guys. They're long gone. They're already. down the road. Huh. The police want to know. Maybe he told his friends something that. night. Maybe he got drunk and confessed. to the murder of Mr. T, or maybe more, or maybe he did something that they. didn't like. Why would they all just. leave him at a restaurant? What. happened? Police track down these friends, and. even if nothing spectacular happened at. the Korean barbecue restaurant, maybe. they had insight on Lee as a person in. general.

Police bring them in. And this case takes such a bizarre turn. The guys are like, yeah, no, we're not friends. We actually. don't know him. That was the first time. we ever met the guy. What? Literally. what? So, the guys tell the police, we. were out having drinks at a nearby. restaurant like the six of us. We're. actually friends, like we've known each. other for a while. And this dude, Lee, just approaches our table, this guy, and. asked if we wanted to join him to get. Korean barbecue a few doors down. It was really weird. He just walked past.

us and was like, hey, do you. I'll pay for a meal. You guys want to. get Korean barbecue? It was really. weird. But he said something along the lines of. like, look, I'm super [ __ ] rich, okay? Like I have so much money, I don't. even know what to do with it. And I'm. kind of bored, so you guys want to be my. drinking buddies? Now, the six friends, they're in their. early 20s. Lee is 30. I mean, a free. meal is a free meal. And it's not like. Lee is 60 years old, this creepy. ahjussi. Maybe they could all be. friends. Like an unlikely start, but who. knows, maybe they'd get along. And it's.

also Christmas time. So, everybody's in. this like jolly like, yeah, let's all. just huddle together spirit. They agree, pay for their drinks. They all walk to. the Korean barbecue restaurant. They. order meat, which side note, meat in. Korea is super super expensive. Seafood. is cheaper in Korea. Korean barbecue is. like a big thing in Korea because it's. also a very pricey meal typically. Mhm. So, I mean, they're excited. This is. like someone being like in America, let. me take you out to a lobster feast. That. just doesn't happen. Yeah. It's This is.

really expensive. They order soju shots, and it seems pretty clear to the police, but also to the group of guys, that Lee. just wanted to invite them to dinner so. that he could be a raging narcissist. The six guys are like, the whole time he. was just bragging about how rich he was, how he was so rich he doesn't even know. what to do with his bajillions of. dollars, and he just threw it around. like literally would light money on fire. type of energy. He buys strangers meals, which, you know, all of this was fine. He could be talking about how he was.

God's gift to Earth, and we would have. listened like it was all legit because. we're getting free bulgogi, right? But we left in the middle of the meal. because. something weird happened. I don't know how it came up, but. he just kept asking us like how far we. would go for money. We were all just giggling, but he seemed so serious. We laughed it off, and we're like, ah, probably do this. I'd probably, you. know, do this. And he asked us genuinely, if I paid you a million dollars, would.

you kill someone? Would you kill someone for money? Probably not. And they tried to talk him. about something else, but he kept. bringing it back to murder, murder, and. money. And he looked dead serious. The friends are getting freaked out. I. think it's like it's hitting them. We. don't even know this guy. He could be. poisoning our drinks right now as we. speak. Like we literally don't know this. man. They get freaked out, and they decide to. leave the restaurant while Lee is in the. restroom. But instead of leaving the.

area, they linger around talking about, that was weird. That was so bizarre. Probably joking about it when Lee. suddenly approaches them on the street. And the friend said, it's like he was a. completely different person. He was so. angry, aggressive. Like there was no way. to even talk sense into him like, hey, we left because you were being so. creepy. He wanted to fight. He got all up in our friend's face. We. pushed him off, and he fell to the. ground, and we're like, we don't even. think when he gets up it's going to be. okay. Like we're going to get into a. fight. So, they take off. Lee is caught.

on CCTV waving his hands around yelling. something. The friends would later tell. the police he was screaming, I'm going. to kill you. I'm going to kill you. Okay. So, he There's definitely a dark. dark side of him that can come out. Very bizarre, and it definitely adds to. the bigger picture of who this guy is. But that still doesn't solve the. question of where is Miss J? The police keep digging, and they find. just as Lee had done with Mr. T, he was. using Miss J's phone to periodically. post on KakaoTalk, her social media, to.

make it seem like she was alive. If her friends and family reached out. worried because nobody had seen her in a. while, she would just respond that she. wasn't feeling great, and she just. wanted time alone. He sprinkled all these bread crumbs. using Miss J's phone to make it seem. like she was just going under the radar. voluntarily. Now, similar to Mr. T, the. police uncovered Lee had taken out loans. in Miss J's name after he killed her, about 15,000 US dollars. But he didn't. kill Miss J for 15,000 US dollars. The. police believe in the short 4 months. that he was dating Miss J, he.

manipulated her into loaning him 200,000. US dollars. There is even. Wow. a written agreement that he would. pay her back. So, Miss J is making sure. to cover herself, protect herself. But. ultimately, Lee was not able to pay. back. The guy refused to even get a job. The whole time he's dating Miss J, she's. bankrolling their entire relationship, taking him on lavish trips, buying him. designer goods, letting him live in her. home. So, the erasure of his debt, the. $15,000 loan, and the fact that he could.

live in her apartment rent-free, I think. all of those combined led him to. murdering his girlfriend at the time. Maybe that was his plan all along. This case then started being compared to. another real-life parasite case. You. know the South Korean movie where. there's a rich family, and they employ a. lower socioeconomic class family, I. guess, and they just suck them dry. slowly but surely. And then you find out. that there's another family living. underneath the rich family's home. leeching off of them as well. And it's a. question of who is the parasite in.

society? And it's a movie about social. class. I would say maybe that's too high of. praise for what Lee was doing. I think. Lee was just a straight-up parasite. Like not in the movie sense, but just in. the normal sense of the word. He just. wanted money. He would latch onto. someone, suck them dry of their funds. over the course of a few months, and. then kill them, and then take out one. final loan. So, originally, everyone was calling him. the K-pop killer. But soon, the news. outlets referred to him as the real-life. parasite killer. And I I do think it's kind of this.

question of, if he's capable of doing. this to Miss J and going months and. months without getting caught, that. really doesn't seem like it was his. first kill. Even the way that he killed. Mr. T, the 20 minutes in and out, covering his tracks, that doesn't seem. like it was just his second time. It. feels like this guy has done this. multiple times before. He's experienced. He has a system in place. Lee claims that he had no other victims, but the police don't believe him. The police found DNA in the apartment, four other traces of DNA, three female. and one male. Now, these are being.

tested, but it is speculated that. they're probably not going to reveal any. new victims. It's speculated that it. belonged to Miss J, Tara, the cleaning. lady, and the male DNA belonged to Mr. T. Side note about the cleaning lady. Lee called a cleaning lady 12 times a. month to the apartment to clean. One of. the times she came to clean was after. December 20th. So, there was a dead body. locked in the closet at this point. She was later interviewed by police and. said, "Lee was always really nice and. friendly. I didn't suspect a thing. I. always thought he was just another. regular law-abiding citizen.".

And just the sheer number of people that. have come into contact with Lee that. could potentially be another victim, insane. So, take a guess. How many. people do you think you talked to in the. past year? Like, I'm talking friends, acquaintances. I'm not talking like, "Oh, you texted your Uber driver. Like, you're here.". Talking like full-on conversations, text, phone. I mean, not that many. Is it? I don't know. I'd probably think. like 15, 20, 30. 30, yeah. Okay, maybe like 40.

If you're working and stuff. Probably. not a lot, right? But, in 2022 alone, Lee spoke to at least 380 people. Again, not just brief contact of like, "Oh, you can leave it at the front. door." Or like, "Uber driver, I'm here.". Like, he's socializing out there? Socializing. Friendly conversations, mostly women. But, 380 different people. That's a huge. number. That means he's talking to at. least one new person every day. That's a. lot of different potential victims. He. could have invited one over, killed.

them, and taken loans out in their. names. Maybe they've been reported. missing, but the cases haven't been. connected yet. So, the police are now. having to go through the incredibly. tedious route of making sure each one of. these 380 people are still alive. So, tedious not because lives are tedious, but the administrative work on that, it's not just calling up 380 people and. making sure they're alive, but just the. paperwork, the reports that have to be. filed with each verification of life. It's going to be a mountain. They did. reveal something interesting about the. conversations, though.

It seemed like Lee had 380 different. identities. Every single conversation was a whole. new lie, a whole new world he made up. And the conversations were just about. him, him, him, him, him. Him seeking. validation, him lying about his life. He. literally talked to 380 people, and for each one, he just wanted to brag. about this fake life he had. He had 380 separate storylines. And he liked it. I mean, he spent so.

much time on this. It's just so strange. It It's not even him that's being. praised and loved by these strangers. He. just got off on it. He got ego boost. from them being impressed by his fake. life. He also used these lies to seduce. women. Investigators said that he had. various different girlfriends, which. they were following up on to make sure. they were still alive, but in the time. that he could have spent working a. full-time job, he was busy talking to. girls. He was almost never single. He. very quickly moved them into his. apartment, Miss J's apartment. So, remember how Tara had just moved in with. him? Mhm. Almost immediately before her,

there was another girlfriend that had. moved in, but she moved out because they. had broken up. He had lived with three different women. in the span of 5 months. Sometimes they. only lived together for a week before. breaking up, and I would be curious to. know what these ex-girlfriends say about. him, because if you move in with a. boyfriend, and you move out in a week, I. feel like something happened. Mhm. That's not really a cordial breakup. Yeah. And speaking of people who might. have interesting things to say about. him, Lee had a home inspector come to. the apartment recently. He was tracked.

down and interviewed by the police. I'm. not sure how much hindsight plays a role. in this, but I'm sure it does to a. degree, but the guy was positively. absolutely freaked out by Lee. He said, "During the time I was there to inspect. his house, he just kept telling me how. his parents died and he inherited a ton. of money. I felt weird about it because. it's a very personal story, and we just. met. We're not even friends. But, more. than that, he was smiling as he told me. the story. Like, it's eerie to be. smiling while talking about the tragic. death of your parents, no?".

The police investigators also uncovered. that the guy had married twice before. and apparently had a previous child from. a previous marriage, which then turned. out to be a lie. The police were sent on. another wild goose chase because Lee had. told a bunch of people that he had a. kid. And so, the police like, "We got to. track down this kid and make sure that. this kid is alive." Turns out, Lee never. had a kid. He just made up this lie. He. would take pictures with a friend's kid. and act like it was his. Was he married? He was married twice before. And this is. kind of where the police investigation.

and the netizen investigation, they. merge. These marriages are important, and they could lead to an answer if he's. a serial killer or not, which is kind of. bizarre, but just hear me out. Everywhere in the world, I'm sure it's. like this. Wedding dress. killer is three victims. So, he's one. victim. Mhm. Yeah. And um everywhere else in the world, weddings are expensive, right? And. especially in Korea, very expensive. More often than not, the groom's side. covers the cost of the weddings. So, the. fact that he had two weddings, the. investigators were puzzled at how he. could have even afford these weddings.

His parents weren't rich, like he. claimed. He was receiving no financial. help from them. He had no job. How the. hell is he paying for these weddings? Netizens were able to find pictures from. his 2018 wedding as well. These pictures. are being debated whether or not they. should even be circulating since he did. not give permission for them to be. released. Yeah, but I guess he didn't ask. permission before he committed murder, so I'm going to put them in the video. version of this podcast, because who. cares? Back to the wedding photos. It's quite a wedding. There's a huge.

cake. It's filled with floral. arrangements, and the venue looks really. nice. It feels very expensive. So, yes, every single sign is pointing to the. fact that this killer probably has more. victims, because again, how did he pay. for this wedding? Mhm. And two of them. Yeah, that would make sense, right? Yeah. Yeah. Another reason that the. police believe that he has more victims. is they found a myriad of items in the. apartment that did not belong to Miss J. or Lee or any of his previously known. girlfriends that are alive.

So, either this guy is a pickpocket or a. thief along with being a killer, or. these are sick trophies that he might. have accumulated over the years. The. police were inclined to believe the. latter because. they've been going the extra mile to. locate the owners of every single item. they found, including a pair of shoes in. the beginning. Remember? Mhm. The police. had to call and locate all the owners of. these random items to make sure that. they were still alive, in addition to. the 380 people that they need to confirm. are alive after being in contact with.

Lee in 2022. We still don't have updates. It's going to be a huge, complicated. process. I mean, just think about the. sheer manpower needed to execute an. operation of this caliber. Like, that's. crazy. A forensic pathologist close to. the case said, "It's clear that he's a. cold-blooded killer. I think they need. to look into the well-being of every. single person that may have come in. contact with him. He seems to have a. record of stealing someone's identity, killing them, leaving them, living with. their assets, and then taking out loans. in their names.

No one should trust a single thing that. comes out of this guy's mouth.". Psychologists who personally evaluated. Lee in prison said that he shows very. strong signs of having Ripley syndrome. Ripley syndrome is antisocial. personality disorder or a variation of. it, it seems, where someone is a. pathological liar and fully believes the. lies that they tell. This doesn't mean that they're actively. in psychosis and can't be held. accountable for their crimes. It just. means that they're kind of living in a. different reality. I guess the. difference between someone with this. syndrome versus. just other pathological liars is the.

fact that these people. tend to not be able to differentiate. between their lies and reality, and it. typically originates from them not being. able to come to terms with their actual. reality. So, Lee believes himself to be. this wealthy heir, and the reality of. him not being that is really hard for. him to even face. So, he might genuinely. believe his own lies. It's said that. other signs of Ripley syndrome are. repeated deception or lies, general. disregard for rules and the law, and the. tendency to commit criminal acts.

So scary. Yeah. They're also known to be. a lot more arrogant, um often lack. respect for rules and systems, and have. a strong superiority complex. They're. very hot-headed, temperamental. So. This sounds exactly like him. Yeah, literally. Yeah. But, also like. the 380 identities, how many realities realities is he. living in? That's crazy. And I wonder if. that's because if that's what his brain.

wants wants to believe the world that. he's in, it drives him to do these murder just to. make that into a reality. Yeah. And maybe that's why he can. not disassociate, but. compartmentalize these murders so well. Like, the fact that he got into that. elevator not shaken at all. Yeah. It's. so creepy. Authorities stated that they will be. administering a psychopath test on Lee. to see whether he where he lies on the. scale. Some sources say that Lee even.

searched up toxic substances and. poisoning before murdering Miss J. So, I. think that should be something to look. out for as the case continues to. develop, because it's still unfolding. We just have to keep an eye out for. what's next. But, this case does come full circle for. a moment. Cats. Okay? There are a lot of victims to Lee's. crimes, and his pets are victims as well. He had three cats and a dog. They were. all taken in by the police and placed. immediately on the euthanasia list.

And if that wasn't bad enough, I highly. doubt that these pets lived good lives. where they were well taken care of. There's videos circulating once Lee's. identity was released of him putting his. cat into a pool. Miss Jay seems to be. there and Lee is laughing while he puts. his terrified cat into the pool. The cat. is squirming and literally dunked in the. water and Lee pulls the cat back up and. he looks overjoyed. It's just weird. because there's not a pool in his. backyard or a lake nearby his home. So, it's not like he's trying to teach his. cat to swim. There really seems to be no.

reason for this other than pure. entertainment. Thankfully, the Korean Animal Rescue. Management Association hears of this. case and the pets are being put on the. kill list. They step in, protect them. from being put to sleep. A. representative said, "The number of. cases of endangered animals left at. crime scenes is on the rise.". It's a sad reality that animals cannot. directly explain the abuse that they've. experienced and are often ignored. without legal protection. They're just left as abused animals that. were discovered at a crime scene. That's. all.

There's pictures of his pets being. transported out of the crime scene. And they look really scared and confused. and neglected. The only silver lining to this case is. the animals, all four of them, have been. adopted. And they're going to end up. with loving families that will protect. them from harm. But, I mean, I just can't imagine how he. treated them. And that is what we know about this case. so far. Let me know your thoughts in the. comments and if you guys want updates on. this as it progresses, but. please stay safe.

And I'll see you guys on Wednesday for. the main episode. Bye.