Diary defeats South Korean burglar

Published : Aug 29, 2011 - 15:04 Updated : Aug 29, 2011 - 16:18

A South Korean burglar has been arrested after police found details of his criminal exploits recorded in his diary, complete with addresses he hit and entries such as "Jackpot!", a detective said Monday.

The 42-year-old Seoul man, identified only as Kim, had stolen luxury bags, jewelry and electronic items worth 320 million won ($300,000) from scores of houses and shops over the past six years.

He was caught this month after a surveillance camera at an automated teller machine recorded him trying to withdraw money using a stolen credit card.

Kim initially denied burglary, but admitted to the crime after police raided his home.

Along with piles of stolen goods, they found a diary that contained details of his crimes, including addresses of the houses he had burgled and an assessment of whether each day's haul was good or bad.

"Kim marked on the diary 'Jackpot!, 'So so', or 'Not so good' next to a house address, depending on how much he stole there," Lee Hyun-Yeong, a detective on the case, told AFP.

Lee said Kim had also checked monthly horoscopes on the Internet to pick the most propitious days to steal. (AFP)

<한글 요약>

매일 범죄일기 쓴 절도범, 경찰 '딱 걸렸어'

경찰이 29일 지난 6년간 시가 3억 2천만여 원 상당의 명품가방, 보석, 전자제품을 훔친 김모씨(42)를 절도 혐의로 구속했다.

김씨는 이달 자동 현금인출기에서 훔친 신용카드를 사용하여 돈을 인출하는 모습이 감시카메라에 포착된 후 붙잡혔다. 처음 절도행위를 부인하던 김씨는 경찰이 자택을 수색하자 범죄를 시인했다.

경찰은 훔친 물건들과 함께 그의 범죄기록이 담긴 일기장을 김씨의 집에서 발견하였으며 “김씨는 그날 훔친 양에 따라 ‘대박이다’, ‘그저 그렇다’, ‘좋지 않다”라고 범행이 이루어진 주소와 함께 일기장에 적었다.”라고 이현영 형사가 말했다.

이형사는 김씨가 인터넷으로 이달의 운세를 보면서 범죄를 저지르기 좋은 기일을 택했다고 덧붙였다.