"Why Did You Assault and Insult My Wife?" Man in His 60s Sentenced to 15 Years for Killing Acquaintance

Appealed, but Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court's Ruling

A man in his 60s has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stabbing and killing an acquaintance with a weapon, allegedly in retaliation for the acquaintance's assault and slander of his wife.

According to the legal community on January 3, the First Division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Ma Yongju) dismissed the appeal of Mr. A, a man in his 60s indicted on murder charges, and upheld the lower court's sentence of 15 years in prison.

Previously, in December 2024, Mr. A was indicted for stabbing and killing Mr. B, an acquaintance in his 50s, with a weapon he had prepared in advance on a street in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. On the day of the incident, Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. A's wife, Ms. C, had been drinking together and were riding in a taxi when Mr. B reportedly strangled Ms. C, hurled severe insults and sexual slurs at her, and said, "Get a divorce right now. There are plenty of women like her." Enraged by these actions, Mr. A decided to commit the crime.

After Mr. B got out of the taxi and went home, Mr. A retrieved a weapon from his own house and committed the crime in front of Mr. B's residence. It was reported that before the crime, Mr. A called several acquaintances and said, "I am going to kill Mr. B." However, during the trial, Mr. A claimed diminished mental capacity due to intoxication at the time. Both the first and second trial courts rejected this claim, citing the fact that Mr. A told Ms. C that the police would arrive soon after the crime, gave detailed statements to the police about his motive and method, and provided specific accounts of Mr. B's actions and his own psychological state that triggered the crime.

The first trial court stated, "Even if the victim slandered the defendant's wife, murder is an extremely serious crime that results in irreversible consequences and warrants severe punishment." Mr. A appealed the first trial's decision, but the appellate court found the original ruling appropriate. The Supreme Court also explained its reason for dismissing the appeal, stating, "There was no misapplication of the law regarding diminished mental capacity in the lower court's decision, and the 15-year prison sentence cannot be considered unjust."

Meanwhile, it was reported that Mr. A had previously been sentenced to prison for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (rape and injury) and had received multiple criminal convictions in the past.