"Killer Stalker" Jeon Joo-hwan Premeditated the Murder for a Month, "On My Way to Sindang Station, I Thought, 'I Have to Settle This Today'"

Jeon Joo-hwan, the suspect in the Sindang Station stalking and murder, is being transferred to the prosecutors, after being released from Namdaemun Police Station in Jung-gu, Seoul on September 21. Jeon is suspected of fatally stabbing A, a station employee and his colleague at the Seoul Metro, inside the bathroom in the Line 2 Sindang Station on September 14. Joint press photographers

Jeon Joo-hwan (31), the suspect in the Sindang Station murder, began premeditating the crime a month before, when the prosecutors requested severe punishment against him in court for stalking.

In a briefing on September 21, the Seoul Jungbu Police Station announced, “Jeon said he decided to carry out the crime after August 18.” That was the day the prosecution sought a 9-year prison sentence for Jeon for stalking. Jeon said he committed the crime thinking, “The trial ruined my life. It’s all because of her.”

According to the police, Jeon visited his victim, A’s former residence a total of five times in four days before killing her. He first visited A’s home on September 5, then once each on September 9 and 13, and twice on September 14. The objective of his first visit was to meet A, but on September 14, the day of the murder, he was determined to go straight ahead and kill her without any intention to talk.

Around 1 p.m. September 14, Jeon tried to withdraw some cash from the bank, but failed, and at 2:10 p.m. returned home. Twenty minutes later, Jeon came out and went to Jeungsan Station on the Seoul Metro Line 6. He introduced himself as an employee from another station and asked to use the computer. He then logged onto the Seoul Metro intranet and searched for information on A. Around 3:30 p.m. he started wandering around A’s former residence, and at 6 p.m. went to Gusan Station on Line 6, looked up information on A one more time and again went to her home. When he couldn’t find A, he went to Gusan Station at 7:01 p.m., got on the subway and went to Sindang Station.

Jeon had a disposable cap and disposable gloves in the bag he carried on the day of the crime. He purchased the gloves online in early August, and the disposable cap he purchased somewhere near Gusan Station sometime around September 5. He also carried the murder weapon.

Jeon explained the reason for wearing the disposable cap at the time of the murder and said, “I wore it because I was afraid my hair would fall out if I brushed against the victim.” The police believe he wore the cap to avoid leaving any evidence.

Jeon said to the police, “I thought I had to kill her, but I didn’t necessarily think I should kill her in the bathroom. The thought just came to me at the site.” He also said, “When I was going to Sindang Station, I thought, I should settle everything today since the next day was my sentencing hearing.”

The police judged the latest killing to be premeditated murder based on the fact that Jeon had looked up the victim’s workplace and office hours prior to the crime, took the disposable cap and gloves used in the crime from home, and installed an application that manipulated the GPS location on his cell phone on September 5. Jeon said, “I didn’t want my location to be exposed, and I used it for that purpose that day too,” and explained the reason for installing the app to fake his GPS location.

The police seized a tablet computer and an external hard drive from Jeon’s home and are currently conducting computer forensics.

This day, the police handed Jeon over to the prosecutor for killing a female employee of a subway station in the bathroom of Sindang Station on Line 2 of the Seoul Metro on September 14. His charge was retaliatory murder according to the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.