'Mother and Son Murder' 40s Defendant Claims Insanity in First Trial... "I Had No Intention to Kill"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A man in his 40s, accused of killing his mother and son and fleeing, denied some of the charges at his first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Donghwan Son) held the first hearing on the 19th for Heo Mo (42), who was detained and indicted on charges of killing a direct ascendant and concealing a corpse, and Han Mo (44), who was indicted without detention on charges of aiding a criminal.

On that day, the defense attorney argued, "Heo admits causing his mother's death but denies any intent to kill."

He explained, "Heo came home drunk and was sleeping when his mother woke him up and scolded him. Heo, who has mental health issues, remembers grabbing his mother's neck but does not recall causing her death."

This suggests that the killing occurred under diminished mental capacity due to alcohol and was not an intentional murder.

However, Heo's side admitted to the charges of killing his son and concealing the corpse.

The defense attorney for Han, who was tried on charges related to hiding Heo, denied the charges, stating, "The defendant was unaware that Heo had committed the crime."

Heo was indicted for killing his mother and son at his home in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, in January of this year and hiding their bodies in a wardrobe.

There is also a charge that while staying at a motel with Han, Heo attempted to kill Han to prevent his own crime from being discovered, but the attempt failed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.