Wife Diagnosed with Dementia 4 Years Ago... Recent Condition Worsened
Defendant Says "I Tried to End My Life Together with My Wife"
An man in his 80s who killed his spouse suffering from dementia while caring for them alone was sentenced to three years in prison.
The Criminal Division 15 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Cha Jin-seok) announced on the 29th that it sentenced Mr. A, in his 80s, who was charged with murder, to three years in prison. Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of strangling his wife, Mrs. B, in her 70s, at their residence in Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, in September last year. It was understood that Mr. A decided to commit the crime after he found it difficult to continue nursing Mrs. B alone as her condition worsened; Mrs. B had been diagnosed with dementia in 2020. Initially, he gave his wife a toxic drug, but when she showed no significant reaction, he strangled her.
Mr. A reportedly told the investigative authorities that he intended to end his life together with his wife by taking the medicine. Considering that the autopsy result of Mrs. B was 'cause of death unknown,' the prosecution initially charged Mr. A with attempted murder and detained him. However, after requesting a re-examination of the victim's cause of death by a forensic expert following the indictment, it was suggested that Mrs. B might have died from other causes since no poison was found in her body. Consequently, Mr. A admitted to the crime in court. During this process, the prosecution changed the charge from attempted murder to murder.
The court stated, "The defendant killed his spouse with whom he had been together for over 60 years, and murder is a serious crime that cannot be justified for any reason," emphasizing the need for strict punishment. Regarding the sentencing, the court explained, "However, we took into account that the defendant faithfully supported and cared for the victim as her husband, that the defendant, being elderly and physically and mentally weak, seemed to have reached the limit of caregiving, and that the children have petitioned for leniency."
So-called 'caregiver murder,' where caregivers exhausted from nursing family members with chronic illnesses eventually choose to kill the patient, continues to occur. In January, an incident occurred in an apartment in Dalseo-gu, Daegu, where a son in his 50s, who was caring for his father in his 80s with dementia, is presumed to have killed his father and then attempted suicide. In October last year, in Nam-gu, Daegu, a father in his 60s who had cared for his son in his 30s with a first-degree brain lesion disability throughout his life killed his son and attempted suicide. In July of the same year, in Seoul, a man in his 60s who had cared for his common-law spouse in her 70s for over two years was sentenced to five years in prison. At the trial, he said, "I want to ask my wife for forgiveness," but also stated, "I have no regrets."
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