Murder suspect confesses to killing seven women

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- A man arrested on charges of kidnapping and murdering a female university student has confessed to killing a total of seven women over the past two years, police said Friday.

Investigators at the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said that 38-year-old Kang
Ho-sun admitted to killing the student and six others who went missing between
December 2006 and November 2008.
Kang, a masseur with a lengthy criminal record, was arrested on Sunday in
connection with the student's death. She was last seen on Dec. 19 last year and
found dead in Gunpo, south of Seoul, earlier this week.
On Thursday night, Kang confessed to murdering a 48-year old housewife who
disappeared on her way home in the nearby city of Suwon last November, after
police investigators found blood stains matching her DNA at his farm.
The suspect, who was previously charged with rape, told police he felt the urge
to kill women he saw after his wife died in 2005. The other five victims
allegedly killed by Kang include two karaoke bar employees aged 45 and 37, a
52-year-old office worker and a 20-year-old university student.
The suspect said he approached the women for sex or with the intent to rape them
and later buried them after strangling them to death with stockings.
"I couldn't suppress my urges after committing the first murder," Kang was quoted
as saying.
Kang's arrest has drawn national media attention due to brutal nature of his
crimes. He is also suspected of having intentionally set fire to his house in
Ansan, near Suwon, three years ago.
His fourth wife and mother-in-law were killed in the blaze and Kang collected
huge insurance payouts. He was found to have registered the marriage just five
days before the fire broke out.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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