Kim Taehyun Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for 'Murder of Three Mothers'

Kim Tae-hyun, who was charged with breaking into an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, and killing a mother and her two daughters / Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Taehyun, who murdered three women in a mother-daughter trio at an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court.

On the morning of the 14th, the Supreme Court upheld the original sentence of life imprisonment in the appeal trial of Kim, who was charged with murder and other offenses.

The Supreme Court stated, "Considering the motives and details of each crime in this case, the defendant's actions after the crimes, and the relationship between the defendant and the victims, the original court's judgment cannot be deemed seriously unjust," and added, "It is justifiable to maintain the ruling ordering the defendant to wear an electronic location tracking device for 30 years and imposing compliance requirements, and there is no error in the legal reasoning regarding the risk of recidivism."

Earlier, Kim was brought to trial on charges of visiting an apartment in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, on March 23 of last year and sequentially murdering the three women in the mother-daughter trio. Investigations revealed that he committed these crimes against A, whom he met through an online game, as well as A's younger sister and mother, because A refused to meet him and did not respond to his contact attempts.

The prosecution charged Kim with five offenses: murder, theft, special trespassing, violation of the Information and Communications Network Act (network intrusion, etc.), and violation of the Minor Offenses Act.

During the trial, Kim argued that he did not plan to kill A's family and that the crimes were impulsive. The prosecutor countered that Kim had thoroughly planned the crimes in advance and requested the court to sentence him to death.

Both the first and second trials found Kim's crimes to be premeditated and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The order to attach an electronic location tracking device for 30 years was also imposed.

The first trial court stated, "It is difficult to believe that the defendant did not plan to kill the family members in advance and that the crimes occurred impulsively during the process," and added, "The court must consider the severity of the sentence and the sentencing consistency with similar cases."

The second trial court also stated, "The defendant should be permanently isolated from society and spend his life in repentance," and added, "The sentence should be executed as an absolute life sentence without parole."

The Supreme Court agreed with these judgments and dismissed Kim's appeal.