'Three Mothers Murder' Kim Taehyun, First Trial of Second Instance Next Month... Planned Crime Dispute as Key Issue

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The appeal trial of Kim Tae-hyun, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial for murdering three women in a mother-daughter trio at an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, will be held next month.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Criminal Division 6-3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Jo Eun-rae, Kim Yong-ha, Jeong Chong-ryeong) will hold the first appeal trial of Kim, who was indicted on charges including murder, on the 15th of next month.

Kim was prosecuted in March for murdering A, whom he met and stalked in an online game, along with A's younger sister and mother. It was investigated that Kim went to A's house when A was not home, stabbed the defenseless younger sister, and then killed the mother who came in afterward. Later, A, who returned from work, also died at Kim's hands.

The prosecution viewed that Kim committed a premeditated crime, citing that he visited the house several hours before A returned from work and committed the crime first. This became a point of contention in court. Kim admitted that he planned to kill A but claimed he did not know A's family composition and that he only intended to subdue the younger sister, asserting that the killings were accidental.

The first trial court ruled, "The crime of killing the family does not appear to be accidental," judging it as a premeditated crime, and sentenced him to life imprisonment, stating, "The younger sister and mother, who had no relation to the defendant, were killed as means to commit the crime against A."

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