"You Falsely Reported and Went to Jail"… Supreme Court Confirms Life Sentence for 70-Year-Old in Retaliatory Murder Case

A man in his 70s who committed retaliatory murder against a victim who reported him after serving time for injury charges was sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) upheld the life sentence in the final appeal trial of Mr. A (71), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (retaliatory murder, etc.) and attempted murder.

Supreme Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

The court stated the reason for dismissing Mr. A's appeal was that "there was no error in the lower court's judgment that violated the rules of logic and experience, exceeded the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterpreted the legal principles regarding intent for murder or justifiable defense."

Mr. A was indicted for stabbing and killing Mr. B, a man in his 50s, with a weapon on the evening of June 8 last year in Dong-gu, Busan.

Previously, Mr. A had been indicted and sentenced to prison for injuring Mr. B, who tried to stop a quarrel between Mr. A and an acquaintance in front of Busan Station in March 2019. Mr. A believed that Mr. B had falsely reported him, causing him to serve an unjust prison sentence, and harbored resentment against Mr. B since he was incarcerated.

Even while imprisoned, Mr. A sent threatening letters to Mr. B, saying things like "If you don't turn yourself in, I will kill you." After his release in May 2021, from August 2021 until June last year, he sent 17 text messages to Mr. B’s wife’s phone number, which he knew in advance, with messages such as "If you don't turn yourself in, you will die, you will die by my hand, you falsely testified and I suffered three months in prison unjustly, I will definitely find you and kill you."

Harboring a desire for revenge against Mr. B, on June 8, 2023, at around 8:36 p.m., Mr. A met Mr. B in front of Busan Station in Dong-gu, Busan, and said, "You gave false testimony, so I served an unjust prison sentence. Turn yourself in for the false testimony. Tell the truth, and you will serve a sentence for false accusation, and I will file for retrial and be acquitted. If acquitted, I can receive criminal compensation. If you don't turn yourself in, I won't leave you alone."

When Mr. B refused Mr. A’s demands and tried to leave, an angry Mr. A took out a utility knife (total length 24cm, blade length 12cm) that he usually carried in a black plastic bag and threatened Mr. B, saying, "Do you want to die?"

When Mr. B responded, "Kill me, you bastard," Mr. A flew into a rage and stabbed Mr. B’s face and neck dozens of times with the knife, then stabbed Mr. B’s abdomen several times after he collapsed. Not stopping there, Mr. A stabbed the knife between Mr. B’s collarbones and struck the handle several times to drive it deeper, ultimately causing Mr. B’s death.

At the time, Mr. C (39), who witnessed the crime scene and rushed to stop Mr. A, tried to take the knife away. Mr. A, angry at the interference, stabbed Mr. C’s face and abdomen multiple times with the knife.

Mr. A was arrested on the spot by police officers who responded to a 112 emergency call, and Mr. C was transported to a nearby hospital emergency room and underwent surgery. Fortunately, Mr. C survived, so the charge of attempted murder was applied.

The first trial court found all charges against Mr. A to be true, sentenced him to life imprisonment, and ordered the attachment of an electronic location tracking device for 10 years.

During the trial, Mr. A claimed self-defense regarding the attempted murder charge against Mr. C, stating, "I did not stab Mr. C; I only swung the knife I was holding to resist because Mr. C suddenly attacked me," but this was not accepted.

Regarding sentencing, the court noted that Mr. A had 26 prior criminal records before this incident, 21 of which were for assault or injury crimes, indicating a high risk of recidivism.

Additionally, the court considered unfavorable sentencing factors such as Mr. A’s lack of remorse or guilt toward the victim, evidenced by statements like "Mr. B did something to deserve death" during the investigation, the fact that he was not forgiven by the victim’s family, and that he took no measures to compensate or console the victim’s family.

Mr. A appealed, but the second trial court’s judgment was the same.

The Supreme Court also found no problem with the second trial court’s judgment.

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