A Family Commits Suicide Due to Financial Hardship... Only the Debt-Ridden Father Left Alone

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] "If we are going to live like this, let's all die together."

A (49), who grew up in financial hardship under a single mother, could not escape the harsh economic difficulties even after getting married.

He repeatedly joined and left a small construction company, where he was introduced by his older sister, due to difficulty adapting.

The debts of A and his wife kept piling up, and the vicious cycle of having to pay loan interest from their small income continued. As a last resort, they looked into additional insurance policy loans, but even that was difficult.

The depression that had lasted for years worsened severely, and eventually, they decided to make an extreme choice. They even judged that it would be better to leave the world together than to have their daughter (8), left alone without parents, live a difficult life as an orphan.

A and his wife enjoyed their last family trip in Jeju Island and returned to a house in Jeonnam in June 2021 to carry out the premeditated extreme act.

They gave their daughter a sedative to put her to sleep, then suffocated her by pressing a pillow over her face. Following that, the wife attempted to hang herself but died from respiratory center paralysis caused by drug overdose.

A survived because he took a smaller amount of the sedative.

At the scene, documents implying the husband's intention of an extreme choice and a will left by the wife were found, including contents revealing guilt toward their daughter.

Later, in court, A denied all charges of murder and aiding suicide, claiming he took alcohol and sleeping pills together and fell asleep, only to find his wife and daughter dead when he woke up.

However, the court judged him guilty based on the fact that A left writings implying an extreme choice with his family, multiple genetic materials were detected on the daughter's body, and opinions from autopsy experts and forensic doctors.

The first trial sentenced A to 7 years in prison, and the second trial court imposed a heavier sentence of 12 years in prison.

Chief Judge Lee Seung-chul of the 1st Criminal Division of Gwangju High Court stated, "Human life is an absolute value more precious than anything else, but the defendant, who was in a position to protect it more than anyone, betrayed it," and added, "The victim died before fully living his life, and it appears he suffered extreme pain during the crime."

He continued, "Looking at the motive, the defendant seems to have committed the crime out of despair over the family's financial difficulties, but such circumstances alone are not enough to be considered a mitigating factor," and explained the sentencing reasons by considering "other factors such as age, character and environment, and circumstances after the crime."

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