'Bucheon Ringer Murder Case'... Supreme Court Sentences Nurse Assistant to 30 Years Imprisonment

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] A nursing assistant who deceived her boyfriend by saying the injection was for fatigue recovery and then administered an anesthetic causing his death was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Although she claimed during the trial that it was a planned suicide, this was not accepted.

On the 26th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Lee Gitaek) announced that it upheld the original sentence of 30 years imprisonment in the appeal trial of nursing assistant A, who was charged with murder and other offenses.

A was tried for administering anesthetics via IV drip to her boyfriend B at a motel in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, in October 2018, resulting in his death. After the hospital where A worked closed down, she was also charged with administering the anesthetic propofol and anti-inflammatory analgesic diclofenac to B without a prescription and stealing drugs from that hospital.

During the trial, A claimed that she and B conspired to commit joint suicide due to financial reasons and that she survived because the needle came out. However, the first trial court sentenced her to 30 years in prison, stating, "A used her medical knowledge to kill the victim and then took drugs herself to disguise it as a joint suicide."

The second trial also pointed out, "A injected a small amount of drugs that significantly differed from the amount of anti-inflammatory analgesics detected in the victim," and "Considering A’s proficiency as a nursing assistant, it is difficult to view this as a genuine attempt at an extreme choice." Furthermore, it followed the first trial’s ruling, stating, "If the victim had attempted an extreme choice immediately after death, hesitation wounds would have been found on the arms or neck, but no hesitation wounds or injuries were found in the medical records."

On this day, the Supreme Court also ruled, "It is difficult to see that the defendant resolved to commit joint suicide with the victim, and there were no signs of suicide in the victim," and "There is no error such as misinterpreting related laws in the original ruling that recognized the intent to murder."