Diary leads to arrest of burglar

A burglar who broke into an apartment and stole luxury items was caught by the police thanks to an unexpected clue: the criminal’s diary.

The burglar, surnamed Kim, stole luxury items worth about 5 million won from an apartment last June. Since 2006 Kim hasstolen luxury goods on 61 occasions and the value of the stolen property is some 270 million won.

Kim was caught by police using evidence from a desktop calendar that he had been using as a scheduler for the past five years.

During the investigation, the police found the calendar filled with the time and dates of his thievery on Kim’s desk when he was a suspect. Kim had been keeping track of his criminal activities in detail and even revisited some of the jackpot hauls.

“The criminal’s diary was the prime source for verifying Kim’s guilt,” a police officer said.

Crime diaries tell much about the plan and motives of criminals.

“Some criminals tend to revisit the diary for information for future crimes whereas teenagers tend to keep them to boast of their illegal achievements like they were heroes,” a police officer said.