70s Arrested and Indicted for Causing Death by Administering Large Amounts of Sleeping Pills with Intent to Sexually Assault

Regarding the case last month where a woman in her 50s was found dead alone at a motel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, a man in his 70s who stayed with her has been brought to trial on charges of causing her death by overdosing her with sleeping pills in an attempt to sexually assault her.

The Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Won-ik) announced on the 1st that A (74) was arrested and indicted on charges including rape, rape-murder, and violation of the Narcotics Control Act. A is accused of secretly administering 42 sleeping pills to B five times while staying at a motel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, from March 29 to April 3, attempting to sexually assault her, and causing B, who lost consciousness, to die from pulmonary thromboembolism.

Pulmonary thromboembolism is a condition where a blood clot formed in a large vein of the leg travels through the bloodstream and blocks a narrow pulmonary artery vessel. Without immediate emergency treatment, it can be fatal.

The 42 sleeping pills administered by A amount to a 14-day dosage. B was found dead alone in the motel room by the motel owner on the afternoon of the 3rd of last month, and the police arrested A in Cheongju, Chungbuk the following day and detained him. It was also investigated that in February, A had administered 21 sleeping pills to B in the same manner and raped her.

A was regularly prescribed three weeks' worth of sleeping pills containing zolpidem, alprazolam, and triazolam, which are psychotropic drugs, at a hospital, but due to the hardship of long-distance visits, he was prescribed a four-week supply of sleeping pills at once around the time of the crime.

After the case was transferred, the prosecution conducted supplementary investigations, including raiding the hospital that prescribed the sleeping pills, and concluded that A had dolus eventualis (conditional intent) to kill, applying the charge of rape-murder. The prosecution also requested administrative action from the competent authorities against Dr. C, who prescribed a large quantity of sleeping pills to A.