"‘I Heard Voices Telling Me to Kill’ - 40-Year-Old Sentenced to 8 Years for Stabbing Rampage at Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] A man in his 40s who went on a stabbing rampage at the Gwangju Prosecutor's Office building was sentenced to prison.

The 11th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Park Hyun-soo) sentenced A (49), who was detained and indicted on charges of attempted murder and injury obstructing special official duties, to 8 years in prison and also ordered 5 years of probation on the morning of the 18th.

A was tried on charges of stabbing a prosecutor in his 50s with a 1-meter-long weapon in the hallway on the 8th floor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office and District Prosecutors' Office building in Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, around 9:50 a.m. on August 9 last year, causing injuries requiring 8 weeks of treatment.

He drove from his home in Gyeongnam to the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, where he had no ties, and went on a stabbing rampage.

When the main gate of the court was closed due to construction, he rammed the parking barrier at the prosecutor's main gate right next to it, broke into the prosecutor's office building, and threatened staff by asking, "Where is the judge's office?"

Before the crime, he posted derogatory remarks about the region on his blog and reportedly stated that he "heard auditory hallucinations instructing him to kill."

A's side paid 70 million won to the victim prosecutor as compensation and reached a settlement, admitting all charges. However, they requested a psychiatric evaluation from the court, claiming his mental state was unstable.

The court ruled, "The crime is very serious considering that without the victim's appropriate response and help from those around, it could have led to more severe consequences."

It added, "The defendant has no significant prior criminal record and appears to have committed the crime in a mentally weakened state due to schizophrenia," explaining the sentencing by saying, "We have comprehensively considered his age and other circumstances shown in the records."

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