Younger Brother Who Killed Older Sister and Abandoned Her in Irrigation Canal... "Parents' Leniency Considered" Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

Younger brother A, who murdered his older sister and abandoned the body in an agricultural waterway in Ganghwado.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] A man in his 20s was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his older sister and disposing of her body in an agricultural waterway.

The 12th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court (Chief Judge Kim Sangwoo) sentenced A (27), who was detained and indicted on charges of murder and corpse abandonment, to 30 years in prison on the 12th.

The court stated, "The defendant brutally killed the victim with a weapon and showed behavior devoid of even the minimum humanity while disposing of the body," and explained, "Immediately after the body was found, he deceived the police by fabricating a non-existent boyfriend of the victim, claiming that she had run away with him."

It added, "Although a heavy sentence for the defendant is inevitable, we considered that he is remorseful and that the parents, who suffered the greatest mental damage, earnestly requested leniency," explaining the sentencing rationale.

At the sentencing hearing held on the 13th of last month, A’s parents tearfully pleaded, "We are sorry to our daughter, but we ask for leniency for our son as he will live as a sinner seeking forgiveness until he dies." On that day, the prosecution demanded a life sentence for A.

A was indicted on charges of stabbing his older sister B, in her 30s, about 30 times with a weapon at an apartment in Namdong-gu, Incheon, around 2:50 a.m. on December 19 last year, and then dumping her body in an agricultural waterway on Ganghwa Island, Incheon.

Investigations revealed that on the day of the crime, after being criticized by his sister for running away from home and overspending, he got into an argument and committed the crime.

In February, when the parents reported B’s disappearance to the police, A inserted B’s phone USIM into another device, accessed her KakaoTalk account pretending to be her, and also accessed mobile banking to withdraw money from B’s account.

However, about four months after the crime, in April, B’s body was discovered following a report by a resident, and A was arrested by the police on the 29th of the same month.