High court confirms death penalty for serial killer

SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul high court on Thursday upheld a lower court's
death sentence for a serial killer convicted of murdering 10 women, including his
wife and mother-in-law.
Kang Ho-sun, 38, was found guilty by the Seoul High Court of kidnapping and
killing eight women between September 2006 and December 2008.
He was also convicted of killing his wife and mother-in-law in an arson attack in
2005. He was given the death sentence in April.
Kang was arrested in January for abducting and murdering a female college student
and has since confessed to killing and secretly burying seven other women. He was
also charged with setting fire to his own house in Ansan, about 50 kilometers
south of Seoul, which claimed the lives of his wife and mother-in-law after he
had taken out large life insurance policies on them.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for Kang, though South Korea has
maintained a de facto moratorium on capital punishment for more than a decade.
Since Kang's arrest earlier this year, the government and lawmakers have proposed
measures aimed at preventing brutal crimes and strengthening investigations. The
measures include establishment of a "gene bank" to collect and store DNA samples
of convicts to use in criminal investigations and making suspects' identities
public.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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