Peer Female Met Through Tutoring App 'Bizarre Murder' Jeong Yujeong, First Trial Verdict Today

The first trial verdict for Jeong Yujeong (23), who was charged with murdering a woman in her 20s whom she met through a tutoring app, dismembering the body, and abandoning it, will be announced on the 24th.

The Criminal Division 6 of the Busan District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Tae-eop) will hold the first trial sentencing hearing for Jeong Yujeong at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 351 of the Busan District Court on the same day.

Peer bizarre murder defendant Jeong Yujeong.

Jeong Yujeong is accused of approaching Ms. A (26 years old at the time of death), whom she found through a tutoring app, around 5:50 p.m. on May 26, visiting Ms. A’s home, and stabbing her multiple times with a pre-prepared kitchen knife, causing death by severing the jugular vein and lung damage (murder charge).

Additionally, between 6:10 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the same day, Jeong Yujeong is charged with mutilating Ms. A’s corpse using a pre-prepared Chinese-style kitchen knife, damaging the body, and then abandoning parts of the body in a park located in Yangsan City, Gyeongnam, around 1:15 a.m. on May 27. She is also charged with theft for wearing Ms. A’s clothes after blood got on her own clothes during the crime.

After the crime, Jeong Yujeong attempted to make it appear as if Ms. A had gone missing by abandoning the body along the Nakdong River, where she usually took walks. However, a taxi driver became suspicious when she discarded a blood-stained suitcase in the forest and reported it to the police, leading to her capture.

In June, the Busan District Prosecutor’s Office’s special investigation team (led by Song Young-in, Head of Criminal Division 3) formally arrested and indicted Jeong Yujeong on charges of murder, corpse mutilation, corpse abandonment, and theft.

During additional investigations after Jeong Yujeong was indicted, it was confirmed that she had approached and attempted to meet two other individuals besides Ms. A through the tutoring app where she initially met Ms. A.

At the sentencing hearing held on the 6th, the prosecution stated, "The defendant has no possibility of rehabilitation, and there is no possibility of judicial error," and requested the death penalty for Jeong Yujeong, arguing that "permanent isolation from society is necessary, but a life sentence allows for the possibility of parole." The prosecution also requested electronic monitoring and probation orders for 10 years.

At that time, the prosecution said, "The defendant killed a victim she had never met as a means of venting anger, instilling fear that anyone could be killed without any reason."

Furthermore, the prosecution stated, "She meticulously prepared the crime by selecting an easily killable victim through the tutoring app, impersonating a middle school student to approach, and preparing the murder weapon in advance. She confessed reluctantly due to clear evidence but repeatedly lied and showed no sincere remorse."

Jeong Yujeong’s defense emphasized her difficult family background and claimed diminished mental capacity.

Her lawyer mentioned that after her parents’ divorce, her family tried to hide her existence during her father’s marriage meeting, the abuse by her father and grandparents, and changes in her school life after entering high school. While acknowledging the gravity of the crime, the lawyer requested mitigation citing unspecified bipolar impulsive disorder.

In her final statement, Jeong Yujeong said, "First, I would like to apologize for this incident. I am sorry to the bereaved family who suffered great grief because of me."

She continued, "I am studying Chinese and Japanese diligently, and I will reflect on myself and make every effort to live with a law-abiding spirit as a member of society," and appealed to the court for leniency, saying, "I earnestly hope for a chance to be rehabilitated and live as a new person."