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Lady Eom Korean Serial Killer Where Is She Now?

Kim Sun Ja, also known as Lady Eom, was a notorious serial killer from South Korea who made headlines for her lethal methods.

She used beverages laced with potassium cyanide to take six individuals’ lives, with five deaths occurring between 1986 and 1988. Before her execution, Lady Eom was one of the last 23 individuals to face the death penalty in South Korea.

However, this all changed when President Kim Dae-Jung imposed a moratorium on executions, effectively ending the use of the death penalty in the nation.

Lady Eom is significant in South Korean history as the first female serial killer in the country and for her unique method of killing her victims without physical contact.

Victims of Lady Eom Korean serial killer

Kim Gye Hwan, a friend of Lady Eom, became her first victim. On October 31, 1986, the two went to a bathhouse together, and in the women’s restroom, Kim Sun Ja offered her friend a drink. 

Kim Gye Hwan drank it without hesitation, and shortly after, she experienced cramps and difficulty breathing before passing out. 

She was brought to the hospital, where she was later declared dead. Autopsies were not commonly performed at the time, so the cause of death was never officially determined.

In 1988, Kim Sun Ja asked another friend, Kim Soon Ja, to accompany her to a coffee shop and gave her a drink with the same result. 

The following year, she gave her 73-year-old father a drink on a bus, which led to his death at the hospital. In the same year, she offered her younger sister a drink while they were at the Hwayangdong bus stop, causing her to pass out and allowing Kim Sun Ja to flee with her sister’s handbag and jewelry.

Kim Sun Ja owed money to most of her victims, and her methods involved offering them drinks that were laced with poison. She took advantage of the opportunity to escape and steal their belongings each time.

Evidence against her

However, the family of Son Si Won consented to an autopsy, revealing that she, too, had died from cyanide poisoning.

Further investigation into the deaths of the previous victims confirmed the same cause of death. The authorities had enough evidence to prove that Kim Sun Ja was responsible for all of these deaths, having poisoned the drinks she offered to her victims with cyanide. 

Despite her protests of innocence, she was found guilty and executed by the Supreme Court in 1989. Kim Sun Ja was put to death in the Daejon jail in October 1997 as part of the final round of executions in the country. 

She was one of the 23 violent offenders executed on that day nationwide.

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Arica Deslauriers

Update: 2024-05-21