40s Man Who Killed Taxi Driver and Fled to Thailand Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison in Second Trial

Court: "Cannot say the first trial was too lenient"

Daejeon Court

A man in his 40s who murdered a taxi driver in his 70s to fund an international marriage and fled to Thailand was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the appellate court as well.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Daejeon High Court (Presiding Judge Park Jin-hwan) sentenced A (45), who was detained and prosecuted on charges including robbery and murder, to 30 years in prison on the 7th.

The court stated the sentencing reason, "Although the defendant did not plan the murder from the beginning, and considering other factors, the responsibility is heavy, but the first trial's sentence cannot be seen as too light."

A was tried on charges of killing B (in his 70s), who was driving a taxi, on the morning of October 23 last year around 3 a.m. while taking the taxi from Gwangju Metropolitan City to Incheon Airport, in Asan, Chungnam Province.

After the crime, he used the banking application on B's cellphone to steal 10,480,000 won, abandoned the body on a road in Asan, drove the taxi to Incheon Airport, and then fled to Thailand.

The police confirmed that A boarded a flight to Bangkok and cooperated with the Airport Police, Interpol, and Thai police to arrest him at Bangkok Airport and repatriate him to Korea.

The first trial court sentenced him to 30 years in prison and ordered 5 years of probation, stating, "He planned the crime in advance to prepare for wedding expenses and dowry, assaulted the victim who was expressing pain to the point of losing consciousness, wrapped him with tape and abandoned him, then fled, which is highly condemnable and carries heavy guilt."