According to police, on the evening of Aug. 31, the fisherman identified as Oh was preparing for a fishing trip at a dock in Bosung, South Jeolla Province, when he was approached by a couple who asked for a boat ride. They were 21-year-old Kim (male) and 20-year-old Choo (female), both college students from Gwangju.

Oh took them on board and sailed for about 30 minutes into nearby waters. After fishing for about an hour, Oh threw Kim into the water in order to rape Choo. Kim struggled to climb back into the boat, but Oh beat him five times with a hook on a pole, killing him. Oh then advanced on Choo, but she fought back by grabbing Oh's waist. Finally Oh threw her into the water, too, and stopped her from climbing back into the boat with the pole, police said.

Just 25 days later, on Sept. 25, Oh was preparing for another fishing trip at the same spot when he was approached again, this time by two women who asked for a boat ride. Oh took 24-year-old Cho from Gyeonggi Province and 23-year-old Ahn from Incheon on board and returned to his fishing spot where he worked for about three hours. On the way back, Oh tried to touch one of the women. Both women fought back and all three fell into the water.

One woman was swept away by the tide and Oh climbed into the boat. When the other woman tried to climb in, Oh killed her with the same pole, fearing that she would otherwise go to police.

Oh's serial murders were soon uncovered by police. Before boarding the boat, one of the two women by chance let a third woman who was traveling in Bosung use her mobile phone. That woman called her husband. Later that day, she and her husband were on their way home when they received a text message on the husband's phone that said, "We are locked in a boat. Tell the police." Alarmed, they called the police.

Police investigated 335 boats in the area and checked their sailing logs for the day of crime. In Oh's boat they found a credit card, ballpoint pen and dozens of strands of hair believed to belong to the victims. Oh was arrested at home where he was hiding. The suspect at first denied the crime, saying the women died through their own negligence, but eventually confessed after an autopsy report indicated the women were beaten.

Based on the similarity of the victims' injuries and the fact that they were killed in the same area, police also suspected Oh of killing the two college students. He eventually confessed to those murders as well.

A lifelong fisherman, Oh has two sons, five daughters and about ten grandchildren, and lives alone with his 67-year-old wife. Although just 165 cm tall, he was able to overpower his victims since he is well acquainted with the sea and a good swimmer, police said.

(englishnews@chosun.com )