Serial killer Lee Chun-jae apologized to his victims during a court hearing Monday, as well as to those who were targeted for investigation for the murders and rapes he committed.

Appearing as a witness at a court in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Lee also admitted that he had killed 14 women and raped nine others throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

He was brought in as a witness at a retrial hearing for Yoon Sung-yeo, who was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in 1988. Lee said he, not Yoon, had killed the girl.

“I wish everything to return to as it was and wish (Yoon’s life) to be healthier and happier,” Lee said on the witness stand. “What I have done cannot be undone, and I will live a life repenting and asking forgiveness to everyone.”

Yoon, despite denying any involvement in the case, was charged with the murder of the girl in 1988 and later convicted. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent 20 years in prison before being released on parole in 2009.

Following reports that Lee had claimed responsibility for the crime, 52-year-old Yoon filed for a retrial last year.

By Ko Jun-tae (khnews@heraldcorp.com">ko.juntae@heraldcorp.com)