70s Woman Who Killed Husband Due to Delusions Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison on Appeal

Appeal Dismissed for Man in His 50s Convicted of Parricide
"One Cannot Arbitrarily Take Another Person's Life"

A woman in her 70s who killed her sleeping husband while suffering from delusions has been sentenced to a heavy prison term again on appeal. Although the elderly defendant claimed diminished responsibility, the court determined she could not avoid accountability.

The Gwangju High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Lee Euyeong) on the 1st upheld the original sentence of 10 years in prison in the appeal trial of Ms. A (76), who was indicted on charges of murder. Ms. A was accused of stabbing her sleeping husband multiple times with a weapon in December last year, driven by delusions that he was spreading malicious rumors about her. Ms. A had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was reportedly suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the crime.

The court stated, "Even considering the defendant's diminished responsibility due to schizophrenia, the gravity of committing a serious murder crime under delusion means her culpability is not light."

The same court also dismissed the appeal of Mr. B (50), who was indicted for parricide, and upheld the original sentence of six years in prison. Mr. B was accused of intentionally driving a vehicle carrying his mother in her 70s and his brother in his 50s into the sea at a dock in Muan-gun, Jeonnam, in June last year, resulting in the deaths of both. Only Mr. B was rescued after a resident reported the incident and the car window was broken.

Mr. B had cared for his mother, whose dementia had worsened, for over 15 years, and reportedly conspired with his brother to commit the act after losing his job and becoming despondent about life. The court ruled, "Even with financial difficulties and the burden of caregiving, one cannot arbitrarily take another person's life."