Supreme Court Confirms Life Sentence for 30s in 'Incheon Convenience Store Robbery and Murder' Case

A man in his 30s who killed a convenience store owner working alone at night with a weapon and stole cash was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Dong-won) on the 15th upheld the life sentence and the original court ruling ordering the attachment of an electronic tracking device for 20 years to Mr. A, who was charged with robbery-murder and violation of the Electronic Monitoring Act.

Supreme Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The court stated the reason for dismissing the appeal, saying, "There is no error in the original judgment that found the defendant guilty of the charges, nor any violation of the principles of logic and experience that would exceed the limits of free evaluation of evidence or misinterpretation of the law regarding intent to murder."

The court also added, "Even considering the defendant's circumstances, it cannot be said that sentencing the defendant to life imprisonment is grossly unfair."

Mr. A, in February last year at around 10:52 p.m., lured the victim, who was working at a convenience store located in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, into an internal storage room and stabbed him multiple times with a weapon, killing him. He then stole 200,000 won in cash from the safe, cut off the electronic device, and fled.

Mr. A's side claimed there was no intent to kill the victim. However, the appellate court found that Mr. A had prepared a kitchen knife in advance and went to the convenience store, and considering that he struck the victim's neck twice, recognized the intent to kill. The court also ruled that since the robbery was meticulously planned in advance and committed again during the probation period, the life sentence was not unjust.

The Supreme Court also found no error in the appellate court's judgment and dismissed Mr. A's appeal.

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