[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has demanded the death penalty for Go Yoo-jeong, who was detained and indicted on charges of murdering her ex-husband and stepson.
On the afternoon of the 20th, at the Jeju District Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Jeong Bong-gi), during Go's sentencing hearing, the prosecution requested the court to impose the maximum sentence of death.
The prosecution stated, "Go Yoo-jeong committed an inhumane crime by killing her father (ex-husband) in front of her son and killing her son in front of her father (current husband). Both cases stem from an extreme disregard for human life, and she shows no remorse whatsoever." They emphasized, "Zolpidem, a sleeping pill ingredient, was detected in the bloodstains of the ex-husband victim, and the autopsy results show that the stepson was deliberately murdered by someone, which is the smoking gun (decisive evidence) of the case." They stressed that the defendant's claims denying the charges of the ex-husband's accidental murder and the stepson's murder are all false.
Go Yoo-jeong's defense attorney requested a trial postponement, stating, "To prove that the defendant did not administer sleeping pills to anyone, we requested fact inquiries again from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the National Forensic Service regarding the process in which sleeping pill components were detected in the ex-husband's blood and the current husband's hair, but some documents have not arrived." However, the court did not accept this request. After a five-minute recess, the court decided to wait for the fact inquiry results until the next trial. The next hearing is scheduled for the 10th of next month.
Even if the fact inquiry documents do not arrive on that day, it is expected that the defense's final argument and the defendant's final statement will proceed, and the sentencing hearing will likely be postponed once more.
Go Yoo-jeong was tried on charges of murder, corpse mutilation, and concealment after stabbing her ex-husband Kang in a pension in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, in May last year, then mutilating and disposing of the body. Following the ex-husband's murder, she was additionally indicted on charges of murdering her stepson.
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