The South Korean serial killer who inspired the 2003 film Memories of Murder by Parasite director Bong Joon-ho has now confessed to his crimes.

Lee Chun-jae confessed to murdering 14 women and girls over 30 years ago in court on Monday (November 2), in front of Yoon, who had been convicted for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in 1988, serving a 20-year sentence until 2008.

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“I still don’t understand (why I wasn’t a suspect),” Lee said in court, per CNN. “Crimes happened around me and I didn’t try hard to hide things so I thought I would get caught easily. There were hundreds of police forces. I bumped into detectives all the time but they always asked me about people around me.”

He continued: “I heard that many people had been investigated and wrongfully suffered. I’d like to apologize to all those people.

“I came and testified and described the crimes in hopes for (the victims and their families) to find some comfort when the truth is revealed. I’ll live my life with repent.”

Lee has been in prison since 1994, serving a life sentence for raping and murdering his sister-in-law that year.

Memories of Murder, the second feature directed by Bong Joon-ho, was loosely based on Lee’s crimes, the first serial murders in Korea’s history which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

The film starred Kim Sang-kyung and Song Kang-ho as Detective Seo and Detective Park respectively. Song went on to star in a number of Bong’s films including Parasite, in which he played father of the family Kim Ki-taek.