The prosecution has filed an appeal after a 40-year-old individual, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for psychologically dominating (gaslighting), assaulting, and subjecting a recipient of basic livelihood benefits to cruel acts leading to one person's drowning, received what they considered an insufficient sentence.
The Tongyeong Branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in South Gyeongsang Province announced on the 25th that it had filed an appeal, arguing that a heavier sentence should be imposed on Mr. A, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in the first trial for charges including involuntary manslaughter.
The prosecution explained the reason for the appeal, stating, "Mr. A showed no sense of guilt, denying all charges and showing no remorse. He established a relationship of psychological control and oppression over the victim through prolonged violence, ultimately leading to the victim's death, making the nature of the crime extremely egregious."
Previously, the prosecution had demanded a 10-year prison sentence for Mr. A.
The victim is kneeling next to the suspect in a restaurant. [Photo by Changwon Maritime Police Station]
According to the court, Mr. A was indicted on charges of repeatedly assaulting and extorting Mr. B and Mr. C, both in their 50s, since October 2018, and for forcing the two, after drinking alcohol in October last year, to swim in the sea, resulting in Mr. B's death.
He deceived the two by claiming he had previously been a member of a criminal organization and threatened and assaulted them, saying he would use gang members to retaliate if they did not follow his instructions.
He took them to a motel, controlled their actions, forced them to keep drinking, ordered them to fight until one collapsed under the pretext of "determining hierarchy," and even made them kneel in a restaurant.
From 2021, claiming financial difficulties, he began taking cash from the two basic livelihood benefit recipients, and around April 2023, he took their benefit cards and withdrew about 13 million won in cash for himself.
The victim, instructed by the suspect to swim, is climbing over the railing at Okpo Waterfront Park in Geoje City, Gyeongnam. Photo by Changwon Maritime Police Station
Despite their inability to work due to health reasons, he forced them to do day labor and instructed them to deposit the earnings into his mother's account, extorting about 2.3 million won.
He regularly checked Mr. B and Mr. C's mobile phones, monitored their daily lives, made them walk 17 kilometers (a five-hour walk), and ordered them to take photos of street signs and send them to him.
Then, on October 11 last year, at the Okpo Port Waterfront Park in Geoje, he made the two share 22 bottles of soju and ordered them to enter the sea and swim.
Mr. B, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.179%, was swept away by an underwater whirlpool and ultimately lost his life.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
