Vietnamese Man in His 40s Sentenced to 3 Years for Killing Husband... "Diminished Mental Capacity"

Diagnosed with "Unspecified Non-organic Psychosis"
"Impulsive Crime Committed Under Diminished Mental Capacity"

A 40-year-old Vietnamese wife who stabbed and killed her husband in his 50s, who had been taking care of the family alone on her behalf, was sentenced to three years in prison due to diminished mental capacity.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Shin Jin-woo) sentenced A (40), a Vietnamese national, to three years in prison on charges of murder. The court also ordered five years of probation for A.

Suwon District Court building. Photo by Yonhap News

A was tried on charges of stabbing her husband B (in his 50s) in the epigastric area with a weapon at their home in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, last September for unknown reasons, causing his death.

Immediately after the crime, A is known to have hidden the weapon in the shoe rack and then called 119.

A was diagnosed with "unspecified non-organic psychosis" in 2019 and received inpatient treatment. Since then, it was investigated that she mostly stayed at home and had little social interaction. The victim husband reportedly worked in freight transportation to provide living expenses for his wife and two sons, and carefully took care of the family by preparing meals and managing the children’s school notifications.

The court stated, "The defendant, a Vietnamese national, married the victim in 2008 and had two children, living as a family. Since 2019, she suffered from unspecified non-organic psychosis and stabbed her spouse with a weapon without any special reason, killing him. Murder is an extremely serious crime that cannot be remedied by any means, so severe punishment is inevitable."

Regarding the sentencing, the court explained, "However, considering that the defendant admitted the crime and showed remorse, that the crime appears to have been committed impulsively under diminished mental capacity at the time, and that the young children seem to wish to live with the defendant, the sentence was determined accordingly."