Supreme Court Sends Back Nicotine Murder Case... "Reveal the Truth" vs "It Is Murder"

Wife Claiming Innocence: "I Feel Resentful"

A wife, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the first and second trials for killing her husband by feeding him food mixed with nicotine solution, pleaded not guilty in a retrial following the Supreme Court's remand.

On the 11th, during the final hearing of A’s murder charge retrial at the Suwon High Court Criminal Division 1, A, given the last chance to speak, sobbed and pleaded, "Please reveal the truth."

When the judge asked, "Would you like to make a final statement?" A stood up but was unable to continue speaking and wiped away tears with her hands. After sobbing for a while, she sat down and cried loudly. With her face buried in the defendant’s desk, A was persuaded by the judge who asked, "Wouldn’t you have regrets?" and then stood up to assert, "My case is not guilty." She tearfully stated, "When I came to court today, I saw the prosecutor’s car with the words ‘Happy People, Just Prosecution’ written on it. Seeing that made me resentful. I believe the truth will definitely be revealed."

"The defendant’s livelihood was based on her lover" vs "Investigative agencies wrongly identified the culprit"

On that day, the prosecution requested the court to impose the same life imprisonment as in the original trial. The prosecution stated, "This case occurred at dawn in the residence where the defendant and the victim’s son lived, so there could be no witnesses, and what happened to the victim can only be confirmed through the defendant’s testimony, autopsy results, and mobile phone forensics." They added, "After comprehensive review, we judge that the defendant caused the victim to ingest nicotine and killed him." They further explained, "The Supreme Court ruled that there must be a strong motive for murder even if the defendant endures the family life foundation, but at the time of the incident, the defendant’s livelihood was based on her lover, not the victim. They were no longer family."

However, the defense emphasized the defendant’s innocence, claiming inadequate investigation by the prosecution and police. In the final argument, A’s lawyer said, "The prosecution amended the indictment after the remand, introducing a murder method that was never claimed during the long trial," adding, "This is a very important element in the method of the crime, and the fact that it is argued only in the retrial shows how the prosecution’s investigation has been conducted." They pointed out that the prosecution changed the indictment’s content from "killing by mixing nicotine in cold water between 1:30 and 2 a.m. on the day of the incident" to "killing by mixing nicotine in cold water and white porridge."

They continued, "I am convinced that the investigative agencies wrongly identified the culprit from the beginning and proceeded with the investigation," and requested, "Since the Supreme Court has carefully reviewed the submitted evidence and prosecution’s opinion letter, please consider the defense’s opinion letter and acquit the defendant."

Judge Tastes Nicotine Solution Directly: "It Has a Tingling Taste"

Meanwhile, in court that day, the judge and the investigating prosecutor smelled and directly tasted the nicotine solution (diluted) submitted by the defense. The defense has argued that due to the smell and taste of the nicotine solution, it would be impossible to secretly mix it into food to kill the victim.

The judge dropped a single drop of the submitted nicotine solution on the back of their hand and tasted it, saying, "It has a very strong mint scent and a tingling taste." The prosecutor also smelled it directly and mixed a few drops into a paper cup of water to drink but showed no particular reaction.

A was arrested and indicted on charges of causing her husband’s death by nicotine poisoning by feeding him lethal doses of nicotine solution mixed into misutgaru (grain powder drink), white porridge, and cold water three times between May 26 and 27, 2021.

On the 26th, the husband ate the misutgaru and white porridge given by A and complained of heartburn and chest pain, visiting the emergency room that night. After returning home, between 1:30 and 2 a.m. on the 27th, A again gave her husband cold water and white porridge, which he drank, and he died around 3 a.m., about one to one and a half hours later.

The first trial recognized all the crimes involving misutgaru, white porridge, and cold water. The basis was that the husband had quit smoking long ago, showed no signs of using nicotine patches or injections, and the autopsy detected excessive nicotine in his stomach and blood. The second trial only recognized the crime involving cold water but maintained the sentence. However, in July last year, the Supreme Court overturned the second trial’s verdict, stating "additional examination is necessary," and sent the case back to the Suwon High Court. The retrial sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on the 2nd of next month.

This case was reported on January 8, 2022, by SBS’s "Unanswered Questions," which emphasized the wife’s intent to kill.

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