Hyo Jung Jin and In Hea Song

The discovery of the almost naked body of a woman in a suitcase dumped near York left police and scientists almost no clues as to her identity or who had killed her.

But a stroke of luck helped detectives name the dead woman and an investigation stretching across three continents began, after her death was linked to the murder of a second Korean woman in London.

The gruesome discovery was made in November 2001 after a man walking along a lane in Askham Richard, North Yorkshire, spotted the suitcase and became suspicious when he was unable to lift it. The body inside appeared to be that of a young woman of Asian origin, her face had been bound with distinctive tape.

An anthropologist from Glasgow re-examined the body and in combination with ethnic testing carried out by the Forensic Science Service (FSS), using the red hair analysis test as an ethnic marker, it was confirmed that the woman was South East Asian (Oriental) rather than Indo-Pakistani.

Despite dental examination, DNA and recovering her fingerprints, investigators still could not identify her, so a portfolio of this information was prepared for Interpol. By chance her details were matched to a southeast Asian website listing missing people.

The Korean government holds fingerprints of citizens for official purposes and these were used to help identify the body of Hyo Jung Jin. The 21-year-old student at Lyon University had come from France to an address in west London on a sightseeing trip, but had disappeared almost immediately.

Her death was quickly linked to the disappearance of a second Korean student, In Hea Song, whose body was later found in a concealed cupboard in March 2002 at an east London address in Poplar. Both had slowly suffocated, the prosecution later claimed.

The landlord of both properties was 31-year-old Kyo Soo Kim.

Operation Pavilion, into the death of Miss Jin, and Operation Tilsworth, initially into the disappearance but later the death of Miss Song, were investigated jointly following a meeting between North Yorkshire Police, the Metropolitan Police and the FSS.

FSS scientists produced a range of evidence, which the prosecution used to link Kim with the discovery of the suitcase. The landlord had been living at the west London address when Miss Jin went missing.

The unusual patterned parcel tape used to asphyxiate the student had been identified as being sold almost exclusively through one outlet. Of the 2,000 rolls that were made only 851 were sold, meaning the amount of tape in general circulation was extremely small. A used roll of the tape was found at Kim’s west London address and analysis showed it was stained with his blood.

Blue paint present on one corner of the suitcase matched blue paint on one of the bedroom walls of the house. Blood found on skirting boards, walls, the edge of a divan bed and on the carpet in the room all matched that of Hyo Jung Jin. Her blood was also found in the boot of a Peugeot car the landlord had hired in October 2001.

Paternity analysis of DNA samples was used to identify the body of Miss Song, found in the concealed cupboard in Poplar, by comparing the dead woman’s DNA profile with the DNA profiles obtained from her parents.

Evidence from a property in Canada, where Kim had been staying, was used by the prosecution to link him to the body in the cupboard. Miss Song had been gagged and bound with tape. Orange paint found on a T-shirt taken from a house in Toronto matched paint found on the tape used to bind her wrists. DNA taken from the T-shirt matched Kim, linking all three elements together. In addition, property in the cupboard with Miss Song was linked by DNA to Miss Jin.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003 Kim was convicted of both murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The judge in the case praised the FSS scientific team for providing a ‘Rolls Royce service’.