Prosecutors Indict Father Who Killed Two Teenage Children and Detain Him

Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

A father who killed his two teenage children and then attempted to take his own life has been indicted while in custody.

The Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in Gyeongnam announced on the 20th that Mr. A, a man in his 50s who was arrested on suspicion of killing his two children, has been formally charged and detained.

According to the prosecution, on the early morning of the 28th of last month, Mr. A allegedly gave his 17-year-old high school daughter, Ms. B, and his 16-year-old middle school son, Mr. C, drinks laced with sleeping pills at a mountain area in Gimhae City. After the children fell asleep, he suffocated them to death.

Mr. A attempted an extreme act after the crime but was found by the police and transported to a hospital for treatment.

The police began a search after receiving a report from a teacher that students who were supposed to attend school following a home field trip did not show up.

Earlier police investigations revealed that Mr. A had planned the crime, having visited hospitals multiple times over about a month to obtain sleeping pills.

He had applied for a field trip at the school his children attended to create final memories with them, and it was uncovered that he traveled with the children to places such as Namhae and Busan until the day before the crime.

Upon arrest, Mr. A stated that although he intended to take his own life, he committed the crime out of concern that his children would continue to suffer abuse from their 70-year-old grandmother, who had been tormenting and abusing the two children after their parents' divorce, leaving them alone with her.

A prosecution official said, “We will do our best to maintain the charges so that the defendant receives a severe sentence commensurate with the crime.”