"Misunderstood as Ignored"... 20s Man Stabs Mart Employee Dozens of Times, 7 Years in First Trial

Court: "Psychiatric symptoms partially influenced the crime"

A man in his 20s who attempted to kill a female cashier in her 50s by stabbing her 27 times with a weapon at a mart in Hoengseong, Gangwon Province, was sentenced to seven years in prison in the first trial.

On the 2nd, Yonhap News reported, "The Criminal Division 1 of Wonju Branch of Chuncheon District Court (Chief Judge Lee Su-woong) sentenced A (28), who was indicted on charges of attempted murder, to seven years in prison and ordered five years of probation." According to the report, A, who suffers from bipolar affective disorder and paranoid personality disorder among other mental illnesses, misunderstood something said by the morning shift worker and, with the intention of revenge, returned to the mart in the afternoon and committed the crime against the shift worker.

According to the indictment, on May 26 at around 1:44 p.m., A was charged with attempting to kill B (56, female), who was working the shift change at the cashier counter of a mart in Hoengseong, by stabbing her 27 times in the head, face, and neck with a weapon he had prepared in advance. This was after A misunderstood B’s answer of "She went to eat" to his question "Where is the morning shift worker?" as "I don’t know."

Earlier, at around 12:57 p.m., A mistakenly believed that the morning shift cashier called him "crazy," which angered him and led him to bring a weapon from home to commit the crime. Although A knew where the morning shift worker was, he misinterpreted B’s refusal to tell him as ignoring him. During the attack on B, the weapon slipped from his hand, injuring himself and resulting in an attempted murder rather than a completed one. B received hospital treatment immediately after the incident and, while her life was not in danger, she developed post-traumatic stress disorder with little chance of symptom improvement.

The court stated, "The motive, method, and damage caused by the crime committed against the afternoon shift victim, whom the defendant mistakenly believed was ignoring him again after the morning shift worker, show that the nature of the crime is very serious." It added, "The defendant’s psychiatric symptoms appear to have partially influenced the crime. However, considering that the victim suffered significant physical and mental pain and is demanding severe punishment," explaining the sentencing decision.

However, the court dismissed the prosecution’s request for an electronic monitoring order. Although the crime was serious and highly condemnable, the defendant has no prior murder convictions and the likelihood of reoffending is considered low. The court also cited that probation orders and restraining orders could effectively prevent recidivism as reasons for dismissal.

Meanwhile, both A and the prosecution appealed the first trial verdict. The case will be reviewed again by the Chuncheon Branch of the Seoul High Court.