20s Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Killing Taxi Driver Instead of Female Chat Partner

Court: "Shows no remorse and has not been forgiven by the bereaved family"

A man in his 20s who killed a taxi driver by wielding a weapon inside a moving taxi was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The photo is unrelated to the specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Intern Lee Gyehwa] A court sentenced a man in his 20s to 30 years in prison for killing a taxi driver by wielding a weapon inside a taxi in operation. The man was investigated to have committed the crime against the taxi driver after attempting to kill a woman he met through chatting. The court handed down a prison sentence, taking into account factors such as the failure to reach a settlement with the victim's family and the defendant's diminished mental capacity.

On the 7th, the Criminal Division 2 of Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch (Chief Judge Park Namjun) sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of murder, attempted murder, and special obstruction of official duties causing injury, and ordered him to wear an electronic tracking device for 15 years.

Mr. A was indicted on charges of stabbing the victim Mr. B, who was driving the taxi he was riding in, multiple times in the neck and chest with a weapon on a road in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, at around 9:50 p.m. on May 14, 2021, resulting in death.

Mr. A is understood to have met a woman, Ms. C, through a chatting application under the pretense of a conditional meeting, purchased a weapon intending to kill her, and boarded a taxi. However, judging that Ms. C was wary of him, he changed his target and killed Mr. B instead.

Mr. A is also charged with assaulting two employees of the Seongnam Probation Center with a pen in the official visitation room while detained in a detention center in June last year.

The court pointed out, "The defendant planned to kill the unknown female victim Ms. C and prepared a weapon but gave up and then took out his frustration on the victim Mr. B, committing the crime. Nevertheless, he showed no remorse and made no significant efforts to restore the victim, thus failing to be forgiven by the victim's family."

It added, "However, considering that he experienced psychological anxiety and anger management disorder due to bullying during high school, and that his symptoms worsened after stopping psychiatric medication before the crime, leading to a mild state of diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime," explaining the sentencing rationale.

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