Young-chul Yoo

About

Infamous South Korean serial killer currently serving a prison/death sentence, awaiting execution. His spree of terror occurred between September 2003 to July 2004. He targeted affluent citizens and women who worked in sexual trade. He burned and mutilated the majority of his 19 known victims. He was convicted of murder and heinous acts of violence and cannibalism, often bludgeoning his victims to death with a hammer. He was finally apprehended 15 July, 2004 and is serving his sentence in the Seoul Detention Center. 

Before Fame

Despite a criminal record with over 14 convictions and a total of 7 years already served in Korean prisons, he was released and obviously never rehabilitated concerning his charges of theft, forgery, trading in child pornography, and sexual violence towards women and children. He evaded capture for so long due to the variety of his victims forming no coherent pattern of crimes and systemic inadequacies, similar to American police, in the Korean police divisions being unwilling and/or unable to communicate and collaborate on cases together. 

Trivia

He is the subject of a 2021 Netflix documentary The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea. His moniker of Raincoat Killer came from the press released photographs of him wearing a yellow raincoat while escorted by Korean police to identify the place where most of his victims were buried. There is speculation that the death penalty might be abolished before his execution can take place. The death penalty has not been executed in South Korea since 1997. 

Family Life

He was married from 1992 to 2000. Their marriage ended in divorce following the trial and multiple year sentence in prison for rape and abuse. They had one son together, born in 1994. 

Associated With

He is a serial killer similar to American Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. that evaded capture by police by varying the location of his victims, thus exploiting the flaw of police districts lack of external communication.