A 23-year-old true crime fan in South Korea has been sentenced to life in prison for brutally killing a tutor "out of curiosity."

Jung Yoo-jung fatally stabbed a female freelance tutor with whom she had no prior connection on May 26. After the killing, she dismembered the victim's body and disposed of some parts in a riverside bush in Yangsan, north of Busan, The Korea Times reported.

A district court in Busan delivered the life imprisonment sentence to Jung Friday, along with a requirement to wear an electronic monitoring device for 30 years.

Prosecutors had initially sought the death penalty for what they described as a premeditated and heinous crime.

Jung, who was unemployed, had meticulously planned the murder, using an online tutoring app to identify potential victims, prosecutors told the court.

Posing as the mother of a high school student in need of English lessons, she contacted more than 50 people to ask if they conducted their lessons at home before selecting the 26-year-old victim from Busan, the BBC reported. Police have not released the victim's name.

Disguised in a school uniform purchased online, Jung gained entry to the tutor's home. There, she stabbed the woman over 100 times even after she had died.

Following the murder, Jung dismembered the body and took a taxi ride to dispose of some remains in a remote parkland near a river.

Her arrest came after police were tipped off by the taxi driver that a customer had dumped a bloodstained suitcase in the woods.

Police revealed that Jung's online activities indicated extensive research on killing and disposing of bodies.

CCTV cameras captured Jung entering and leaving the victim's home multiple times. Surveillance footage obtained by the New York Post also showed her wheeling a suitcase.

Jung eventually confessed to the killing, which a police spokesman said was "driven by a desire to kill someone after she became obsessed with murder from TV programs and books," South Korean news outlet The Chosun Ilbo reported. Police also said she scored highly on psychopath tests.

Jung asked the court to reduce her sentence, claiming she suffered hallucinations and mental disorders at the time of the crime.

However, the court dismissed her plea, stating that the crime was "carefully planned and carried out" and her statements to the police had been inconsistent.

The court's sentencing judge emphasized the societal impact of the crime, stating that it "spread fear in society that one can become a victim for no reason" and "incited a general distrust" among the community, according to the BBC.

Tags
Crime, South korea, Murder