Suspect admits to killing 14-year-old girl

The prime suspect of killing a 14-year-old girl is taken into Jungnang Police Station in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

A 35-year-old suspect, who allegedly strangled his daughter’s friend two weeks ago, confessed to killing the girl, police said Tuesday.

According to Jungnang Police Station in Seoul, the man surnamed Lee admitted to killing the 14-year-old and burying her body on a hill in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province.

Police also said that his 14-year-old daughter helped him by luring the victim to their house in Seoul, giving her a drink that had powdered sleeping pills in it and disposing of the body.

The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for her.

Previously, Lee denied the murder allegation, claiming the friend died after taking the sleeping pills by mistake, despite the National Forensic Service’s conclusion that she was strangled.

Yet he refused to give a reason as to why he killed her, police said.

Police said they are investigating whether his sadistic sexual propensity and unstable mental state were factors in the murder of the girl, whose body was found Sept. 6 with bruising on her neck and scratches on her face.

According to police, Lee had a collection of many adult products at his house. His wife, who was found dead in an apparent suicide last month for unclear reasons, said in a suicide note that he sexually abused her.

He even filmed the process of cleaning his wife’s dead body and covering her in a shroud.

He was registered as disabled for his mental condition in December 2015, which could affect the investigation and court rulings.

Another big question is why he targeted the victim, who had barely talked to his daughter for almost two years after they graduated from the same elementary school.

His mental illness is also in doubt. Some believe he is just pretending to be “crazy” to avoid serious punishment.

He and his daughter suffer from a rare disease known as gigantiform cementoma, which involves dental tumors growing on the jaw. They became famous in 2006 when their stories were aired on TV. Until recently, he raised donations through TV programs and social media.

He knew how to raise funds with emotional messages using his daughter as an excuse, and many believed him.

But it turned out that Lee used much of the money to buy three luxurious cars, high-class audio systems and many other things unrelated to medical treatment.

Meanwhile, police are again looking into the suicide of his 31-year-old wife. According to police, she filed a complaint with police on Sept. 1 against Lee’s stepfather, accusing him of sexually assaulting her for eight years. Four days later, she killed herself.