Defendant: "I Will Accept Any Punishment"
Attorney: "He Is Deeply Remorseful, Please Show Leniency"
Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for a man in his 50s who brutally murdered five members of his immediate family, including his parents, wife, and children.
On July 22, during the final hearing at the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 13 (presided over by Chief Judge Jang Seokjun) for Lee, who was charged with parricide, murder, and violation of the Narcotics Control Act (psychotropic substances), prosecutors requested the court to sentence the defendant to death.
Suwon District Court. Suwon District Court website.
The prosecution stated, "This case involves the defendant deliberately killing five family members after his business failed, claiming he did not want to leave them with financial burdens. The crime is extremely grave and the nature of the offense is particularly egregious." They further explained, "The defendant did not stop his actions even though some of the victims resisted."
The prosecution also emphasized that, compared to other tragic family murder cases, this incident was exceptionally inhumane and antisocial, stating, "The harm caused is truly devastating." They elaborated, "The defendant's eldest daughter had temporarily returned from studying in Germany to see her family, only to be unexpectedly killed. The younger daughter, a university freshman, lost her life before she could even begin to experience her youth."
They added, "The defendant's actions stemmed from an irresponsible and selfish belief that he could control his family's lives at will, without recognizing them as independent individuals. It is necessary to deliver a severe sentence commensurate with the crime to sound a warning so that such incidents do not occur again in our society."
Lee's attorney stated, "Aside from the fact that the defendant is remorseful, he does not wish to present any further arguments," and pleaded, "He is deeply repentant. Please show leniency."
In his final statement, Lee said, "I am a murderer who killed the precious family I was supposed to protect and care for. I have caused a scandal in society and inflicted irreparable wounds." He continued, expressing his deep regret, "Please impose the maximum penalty under the law, such as the death penalty. I will accept any punishment. I will spend the rest of my life repenting and atoning."
Lee is accused of giving sleeping pills to his family?his parents in their 80s, his wife in her 50s, and his two daughters in their teens and twenties?at their apartment in Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on the night of April 14, then strangling them one by one as they slept. After the crime, he left a note indicating his intention to kill everyone and then take his own life. In the early hours of April 15, he fled in a car to an officetel in Gwangju Metropolitan City, where he was staying for business, but was apprehended by police later that morning.
Investigations revealed that Lee, formerly the head of a housing construction company, committed the crime after incurring tens of billions of won in debt due to civil and criminal lawsuits arising from an apartment construction and sales project in Gwangju. The sentencing for Lee is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the 28th of next month.
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