The so-called 'Thailand Pattaya Drum Murder Case' co-defendants, who were sentenced to heavy penalties including life imprisonment in the first trial, have appealed the verdict. The prosecution also filed an appeal citing the sentence as unjust.
According to the legal community on the 4th, the three co-defendants recently appealed on the grounds that the sentences were too harsh, while the prosecution appealed on the grounds that the sentences were too lenient.
Earlier, the Changwon District Court's 4th Criminal Division (Chief Judge Kim In-taek) sentenced 27-year-old A, who was indicted on charges of robbery-murder and corpse concealment, to 25 years in prison; 28-year-old B to life imprisonment; and a man in his 40s, C, to 30 years in prison on the 16th of last month.
They were also ordered to wear electronic location tracking devices for 10 years.
Three defendants going to the detention warrant hearing in the 'Thailand Pattaya Drum Murder Case.' Photo by Se-ryeong Lee
The three defendants were arrested and indicted on charges of murdering a Korean tourist in his 30s, D, in Pattaya, Thailand, on May 3 of last year, mutilating the body, and abandoning it in a reservoir.
According to the prosecution's investigation, they were making a living by phone financial fraud (voice phishing), but when their income became insufficient, they conspired to kidnap a Korean tourist and steal money.
On the day of the incident, they met the victim at a club in Bangkok, Thailand, gave him alcohol mixed with drugs, and then, while the intoxicated victim was resisting, they took him to a lodging prepared as the crime scene in a vehicle they had arranged, under the pretense of taking him to his accommodation.
During the transfer, when the victim resisted, saying the direction was wrong, they strangled his neck and violently beat his face and upper body, causing the victim's death.
They also mutilated parts of the deceased victim's body, placed them in a prepared rubber drum with cement to harden, and threw it into the Pattaya Map Prachan Reservoir to conceal the evidence.
Using the victim's mobile phone, they transferred 3.7 million won from the victim's account to their own accounts, and called the victim's family pretending the victim was alive, demanding a ransom of about 100 million won, but the attempt failed.
After the crime, the perpetrators fled and were subsequently caught in South Korea, Cambodia, and Vietnam, respectively.
Immediately after the first trial sentencing, the victim's family stated, "Although the court acknowledged all the charges, we cannot accept the sentences given," and urged for the defendants to be sentenced to death and their identities to be disclosed.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
