Prosecution Seeks Death Penalty for Kim Taehyun in 'Three Mothers Murder' Case: "Must Be Permanently Isolated from Society"

Published 13 Sep.2021 13:08(KST)

Suspect Kim Taehyun, accused of breaking into an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, and killing a mother and her two daughters, is being transferred to the prosecution at Dobong Police Station in Seoul on the 9th. Photo by Kang Jinhyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The prosecution has sought the death penalty, the highest sentence in court, for Kim Taehyun (25), who was detained and indicted on charges of murdering three women in a mother-daughter trio at an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul.

On the 13th, the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office requested the death penalty for Kim during the sentencing hearing held by the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul Northern District Court (Presiding Judge Oh Kwon-cheol).

The prosecution explained the reason for the sentence request, stating, "Considering that the defendant killed three victims and committed other crimes during the course of the offense, there is no room to consider any sentence other than the harshest punishment. It is inevitable to impose the severest sentence on the defendant to hold him strictly accountable and to prevent the recurrence of such heinous crimes that deny life."

Kim is accused of visiting an apartment in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, on March 23 and sequentially murdering the three women in the mother-daughter trio. He committed this crime because A, whom he met through an online game last November, refused to meet and did not respond to his contact.

In April, the prosecution indicted Kim on five charges, including murder, special trespassing, and violation of the Minor Offenses Act. Throughout the trial, Kim has claimed that he did not plan to kill A's family and that the crime was impulsive. However, the prosecution judged that Kim had thoroughly planned the crime in advance.