Sentences of Medium Length Given to Elderly in Their 70s and 80s, Requiring Over 100 Years to Serve Full Term...

70-Year-Old Man Sentenced to 37 Years for Killing Wife Suspected of Affair
80-Year-Old Man Sentenced to 20 Years

Male defendants in their 70s and 80s who brutally murdered their ex-wives and spouses were consecutively sentenced to heavy prison terms. They will have to live to be over 100 years old to be released at the end of their sentences.

On the 11th, Yonhap News reported, "The Criminal Division 1 of Bucheon Branch of Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-ah) sentenced A (75), who was detained and indicted on charges of murder and attempted murder, to 37 years and 6 months in prison along with treatment custody."

A was tried on charges of stabbing his ex-wife B, in her 60s, more than 10 times with a weapon at an apartment in Unyang-dong, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, around 10:50 a.m. on March 17. He is also accused of attempting to kill security guard C (68) by stabbing him multiple times with a weapon at the security office on the first floor of the same apartment around 7:20 a.m. the next day.

A had divorced B in the past but had lived together with her for a long time. He suspected that B was having an affair with another man and was trying to evict him from the house. A reportedly committed the crime after seeing B talking with security guard C near the apartment and mistakenly believing they were in an illicit relationship.

The court stated, "The defendant brutally stabbed his spouse with a weapon less than a year after being released for another crime," adding, "He suspected security guards of being his spouse’s affair partners based on baseless assumptions and delusions, wrote their names in a notebook, and attempted to kill one of them." The court further pointed out, "However, the defendant does not show any remorse, instead blaming the victims and justifying his actions."

Additionally, the court noted, "The security guard victim quit his job due to the crime and is suffering financial difficulties, but the defendant has made no efforts to compensate for the damage. The victim’s life ended tragically, causing an irreparable shock to his children," and explained the sentencing rationale: "Although the defendant is elderly, he must repent through a long-term imprisonment." If A serves his full sentence, he will be 112 years old. Earlier, the prosecution requested life imprisonment at the sentencing hearing on the 25th of last month, stating, "The damage is severe, the defendant shows no remorse, and the harm has not been remedied."

On the same day, the 12th Criminal Division of Daegu District Court (Presiding Judge Eo Jae-won) sentenced D, an 80-year-old man charged with murder for stabbing his wife with a weapon because she did not prepare breakfast and ignored him, to 20 years in prison, Yonhap News reported.

D is accused of killing his wife E, in her 70s, by hitting her head with a blunt object and stabbing her with a weapon during an argument on the morning of July 15 at an apartment in Buk-gu, Daegu. Investigations revealed that D frequently abused his wife. The court stated, "The defendant’s method of crime is extremely brutal, and as an inhumane crime of killing a spouse, the nature of the crime is severe and highly condemnable," explaining the reason for the heavy sentence.

Meanwhile, in July, an 80-year-old dementia patient who killed his common-law spouse of 20 years was also sentenced to a heavy prison term.

On July 26, the 12th Criminal Division of Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Park Jae-seong) sentenced F (85) to 10 years in prison on charges of murder. F was charged with killing his common-law spouse by repeatedly striking her with a blunt object at their home in Bangnim-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju, on February 6. F, who suffers from dementia, committed the crime during an argument with the spouse he had lived with for 20 years. The court stated, "This is an inhumane crime of killing a victim with whom the defendant shared a long life, which is socially condemnable," but also noted, "Considering that the crime was committed impulsively while suffering from dementia, this was taken into account in sentencing."