"Questions About Evidence"... Husband Charged with Nicotine Murder, Sentence Reduced from 30 Years to Not Guilty
A woman in her 30s who was prosecuted for killing her husband through nicotine addiction and sentenced to a heavy punishment in the first and second trials was acquitted after a retrial following a Supreme Court remand.
According to the legal community on the 7th, the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Kim Sang-hwan) finalized the original verdict that acquitted Ms. A, who was indicted on charges of murder, on December 24 last year. Ms. A was accused of causing her husband's death by nicotine poisoning by making him consume misutgaru (a traditional Korean grain powder drink), white porridge, and cold water containing a lethal amount of nicotine extract three times between May 26 and 27, 2021.
On the 26th, the husband ate the misutgaru and white porridge given by Ms. A and complained of heartburn and chest pain. He visited the emergency room that night. The prosecution believed that after returning home, the husband consumed the cold water and white porridge given by Ms. A between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on the 27th and died around 3:00 a.m. the same day. The first trial court sentenced her to 30 years in prison, stating, "The cause of death was acute nicotine poisoning, and the nausea and chest pain shown after eating the white porridge are typical symptoms of nicotine poisoning." The second trial court recognized only the crime involving the use of cold water as guilty among the prosecution's charges but maintained the same sentence.
However, in July 2023, the Supreme Court overturned the original verdict and sent the case back to the Suwon High Court. At that time, the Supreme Court stated, "The indirect evidence presented for the guilty part is not sufficient as positive evidence supporting the charges, and there remain doubts that make it hesitant to be convinced of guilt." Accordingly, after four rounds of hearings, the Suwon High Court retrial court acquitted her, stating, "Considering the preparation and execution of the crime and whether the chosen method was reasonable, there is reasonable doubt. It is judged that the crime has not been proven." The prosecution appealed the retrial verdict, but the Supreme Court rejected it.
The Supreme Court explained the reason for dismissing the appeal, stating, "There is no error in the original court's judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the law regarding the establishment of murder charges and the binding force of the remand judgment."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
