"Auditory Hallucinations of Murder Orders" 40s Man with Weapon Rampage at Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office Sentenced to 8 Years in Appeal Trial

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] A man in his 40s who committed a stabbing rampage at the Gwangju Prosecutor's Office was sentenced to imprisonment again in the appellate court.

The 2-2 Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court (Judges Seong Chung-yong, Lee Soo-young, Park Jeong-hoon) dismissed the appeals of both the defendant and the prosecution in the appeal trial of A (49), who was charged with attempted murder, and upheld the original sentence of 8 years imprisonment and 5 years probation.

A was prosecuted for stabbing a prosecutor in his 50s with a 1-meter-long weapon in the hallway on the 8th floor of the Gwangju High Court and District Prosecutor's Office building in Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, 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 Court, where he had no ties, and committed the 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 disparaging remarks about the region on his blog, and during the investigation, he stated that he "heard auditory hallucinations instructing him to kill."

While admitting his charges, A requested a psychiatric evaluation from the court, claiming his mental state was unstable.

The court, as in the original trial, acknowledged that he committed the crime in a state of diminished responsibility due to schizophrenia but rejected the claim of inappropriate sentencing.

The court stated, "He made efforts to restore the victim's damages by paying tens of millions of won in consolation money and over a hundred million won in damages," but judged that "without the victim's resistance and help from people around, it could have resulted in casualties, so the harm to society is serious and the nature of the crime is very grave."

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