Wife Who Died at 145cm and 20.5kg, Husband Sentenced for Confinement

Confined in a small room at home without proper care

A man in his 50s was sentenced to prison for causing the death of his wife, who had hearing and intellectual disabilities, by confining her in a small room in their home and failing to properly care for her. The deceased wife was only 145 cm tall and weighed 20.5 kg.

According to Yonhap News on the 8th, the Daegu District Court Criminal Division 12 (Chief Judge Eo Jae-won) sentenced A (59) to two years in prison on charges including confinement and abandonment resulting in death. A’s trial was held as a citizen trial on the 29th of last month, and the sentencing was delivered separately on this day.

Daegu High School·District Court. Yonhap News

From November 2022 to January 2023, A confined his wife B (54), who had disabilities and poor health, in a small room at their residence in Seo-gu, Daegu. He neglected her by not providing meals on time, leading to her death from starvation.

Investigations revealed that A was reportedly frustrated because he could not communicate well with his disabled wife. The defendant blocked the door with a wardrobe to prevent B from leaving the room and nailed the window frame to keep the window shut.

Additionally, fearing that B might leave the room and encounter neighbors outside, he locked a small door leading outside, located right next to the small room. In early January last year, B collapsed suddenly while calling for A as she was moving from the small room’s back door?the only practical exit?to the yard pathway.

A only moved his collapsed wife back into the unheated small room without providing any medical treatment or other care. The next day, B died from complications caused by severe starvation.

After the incident, the police launched an investigation and subsequently referred A to the prosecution. In March, the prosecution indicted him on charges including confinement. During the citizen trial held last month, the prosecution sought a six-year prison sentence for A, citing that the victim was confined while starving and died in extreme suffering.

The jurors in the citizen trial delivered mixed verdicts. All seven jurors unanimously found A guilty of confinement. However, regarding abandonment charges, five jurors found him guilty while two found him not guilty; for abandonment resulting in death, five jurors voted not guilty and two voted guilty.

The court stated the sentencing rationale: "The defendant prevented the victim from leaving the residence and neglected her to the extent that she could not properly receive nutrition by withholding food. Although the defendant also suffers from borderline intellectual disability, he showed no remorse, and considering that the victim’s younger brother demands severe punishment, the sentence was determined accordingly."