[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The main perpetrator of the "Pattaya Murder" case, who operated an illegal gambling site in Thailand and killed a Korean he had hired, was additionally sentenced to 17 years in prison.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Cheolhan Yang) sentenced Kim, who was indicted on charges of murder and corpse abandonment, to 17 years in prison on the 8th and ordered him to wear an electronic location tracking device (electronic anklet) for 10 years. Kim had previously been sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison by the Supreme Court for joint confinement and injury charges.
Kim, who was a member of a domestic violent organization and operated a gambling site in Thailand, is accused of assaulting and killing a programmer A (then 26) he had hired near a resort in Pattaya in November 2015 and then abandoning the body.
A was habitually assaulted by Kim and, unable to endure it any longer, tried to escape to Korea but was caught by Kim and failed, according to investigations.
During this time, Kim, to evade local investigative authorities, got into a car with accomplice Yoon to move A to another lodging, and during the transfer, was accused of brutally assaulting A with a blunt weapon, causing death, and leaving the body in the vehicle.
Unlike Yoon, who surrendered to local police the day after A’s death, Kim fled to Vietnam and evaded the investigation for nearly two years before being extradited to Korea in April 2019. Yoon was convicted by a Thai court, sentenced to 15 years in prison, and is currently serving his sentence there.
Yoon and Kim each accused the other of being responsible for A’s death, but the court judged that Kim was the one who decisively caused A’s death.
The court stated, "The victim was brought from Korea by the defendant to operate the gambling site, and the defendant had previously assaulted the victim during work. The person who directly benefits from the victim’s actions is the defendant, so his interest is more direct than Yoon’s."
In particular, the court pointed out, "Even if the victim died solely due to Yoon’s unilateral assault as the defendant claims, the defendant had a duty to protect the victim and cannot be exempted from the guilt of being an accomplice to murder for failing to prevent it."
The court said that although Kim’s guilt is serious, it determined the sentence considering that he had already been confirmed and was serving a prison term for related charges and that the crime was not premeditated.
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