Gangbuk Motel Serial Killing Suspect Diagnosed as Psychopath

The suspect in the "Gangbuk Motel Serial Killing Case," a woman in her 20s identified only by her surname Kim, has been diagnosed as a psychopath and shows patterns similar to those of notorious female psychopaths in South Korean criminal history.

According to Seoul Economic Daily's reporting on the 7th, the Seoul Gangbuk Police Station recently conducted a PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist-Revised) assessment on Kim, which confirmed she meets the criteria for psychopathy. Police have forwarded the results to prosecutors.

The PCL-R measures psychopathic personality traits including callousness, impulsivity, lack of empathy, and irresponsibility. The test consists of 20 items with a maximum score of 40 points. In South Korea, scores above 25 typically indicate psychopathy, while ordinary individuals score around 15. Kim reportedly scored above the threshold.

Police believe Kim, who was in financial difficulty, targeted victims to satisfy personal desires such as visiting upscale restaurants and hotels. Investigators determined she obtained financial benefits by having victims pay for dates or order delivery food.

Kim exhibited particularly unusual behavior at one chicken restaurant, ordering 22 menu items and leaving the scene just eight minutes after receiving the delivery. According to attorney Nam Eon-ho of Vincent Law Firm, who represents the victims' families, Kim sent photos of herself in a taxi to a victim along with messages saying "I'm going home" — behavior presumed to be an attempt to establish an alibi.

Kim's diagnosis has drawn attention to crime patterns distinctive to female psychopaths. Unlike male psychopaths who typically use physical force in pursuit of sadistic pleasure, female psychopaths tend to use poison or drugs to incapacitate their victims.

The case mirrors that of Um In-suk, who killed her husband and lover with drugs, staged the deaths as accidents to collect insurance money, and caused family members to go blind. Um reportedly received the highest score ever recorded on a psychopath test in Korea. Criminal profiler Kwon Il-yong previously stated: "Scores above 25 out of 40 indicate a dangerous person. Yoo Young-chul scored 37, Kang Ho-soon scored 38. I would estimate Um In-suk's score approaches 40."

Lee Eun-hae, convicted in the "Valley Murder Case," showed similar patterns. Lee fed pufferfish toxin to her victim, then had the non-swimmer jump from a 4-meter rock into 3-meter-deep valley water without rescue equipment, ignoring pleas for help. Lee scored 31 on her psychopath assessment.

A common trait among these offenders is disguising crimes as accidents and strongly denying charges. While Kim admitted to mixing psychotropic drugs into hangover remedies and giving them to the male victims, she has denied murderous intent, claiming she "didn't know the victims would die."

However, police investigation revealed Kim had queried ChatGPT multiple times about the dangers of the drugs before committing the crimes. After her first known victim regained consciousness, she significantly increased the drug dosage in subsequent drinks. Police concluded Kim possessed "dolus eventualis" — awareness that her drugged beverages could serve as instruments of death beyond merely inducing sleep.

Prosecutors have decided to convene a personal information disclosure review committee to determine whether to publicly release Kim's identity.