Woman Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison in Appeal Trial for Kidnapping and Murder with Cheonan Suitcase

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A woman in her 40s who was arrested and prosecuted for confining her live-in boyfriend's 9-year-old son in a travel bag for nearly 7 hours, resulting in his death, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the appellate court. The sentence increased by 3 years compared to the first trial.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Daejeon High Court (Chief Judge Junmyeong Lee) sentenced A (41) to 25 years in prison on the morning of the 29th for charges including murder and violation of the Child Welfare Act. In the first trial, A was sentenced to 22 years in prison, recognizing the implied intent to kill. A appealed the verdict. During the appellate trial, it was reported that she submitted about 10 letters of apology and pleas for leniency. However, the appellate court also recognized A's intent to kill and reached this conclusion.

A was arrested and prosecuted on charges of confining B, the live-in boyfriend's son, in a travel bag (width 50 cm, height 71.5 cm, depth 29 cm) for about 3 hours and then in a smaller bag (width 44 cm, height 60 cm, depth 24 cm) for nearly 4 hours at an apartment in Cheonan, Chungnam, around noon on June 1 last year, ultimately causing his death from 'hypoxic brain injury.' During the confinement, B repeatedly complained of difficulty breathing, but instead of releasing him, A was investigated to have jumped on the bag and even blew hot air from a hairdryer into it.

The prosecution indicted the case on charges of murder, applying the charge instead of child abuse resulting in death, which the police had forwarded. At the time of announcing the investigation results, the prosecution stated, "After closely examining the fact that Ms. Sung confined the victim in a cramped travel bag for over 7 hours, pressed down on the bag with a weight of up to 160 kg, and failed to provide proper rescue measures despite noticing abnormal signs such as irregular breathing."

This case sparked public outrage at the time of occurrence. Recently, it has drawn renewed attention in connection with the Jeong-in case, where a child died at 16 months old due to abuse by adoptive parents.

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