Suspects who assaulted late director Kim Chang-min, leading to his death, will stand trial on murder charges rather than for causing death by injury.
On the 21st, the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office Namyangju Branch Criminal Division 2 (Park Sin-young Director General prosecutor) indicted men in their 30s, A and B, on charges of murder and violating the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, detaining them in custody.
The two are accused of assaulting director Kim Chang-min at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 20 last year at a restaurant in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, causing his death. They also face charges of emotional abuse, such as terrifying him by assaulting him in front of director Kim Chang-min's son, who has a developmental disability.
At the time, director Kim Chang-min was dining with his son, who has a developmental disability, when he got into a dispute with A and B over noise. In the course of this, A and B carried out a group assault against director Kim Chang-min, and after falling into a brain-dead state, director Kim Chang-min died on Nov. 7 last year after saving four lives through organ donation.
At first, A and B were referred on charges of causing death by injury, and arrest warrants were repeatedly rejected for reasons such as there being no flight risk. Meanwhile, prosecutors formed a dedicated investigation team to conduct supplementary investigations, and on the 28th of last month they obtained an arrest warrant by adding charges of violating the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities.
In particular, during the supplementary investigation, prosecutors confirmed contents in the suspects' recorded phone calls such as "I assaulted him thinking I had to kill him with my own hands" and "I had no thought but to kill him," and judged these to be evidence of motive and intent to kill. Afterwards, prosecutors concluded that A and B foresaw director Kim Chang-min's death and applied murder charges.
However, the five companions who were at the scene are reported to have only tried to stop the assault, and no evidence was found that they encouraged or fomented the crime. Meanwhile, A admits to hitting director Kim Chang-min 3–4 times with his fist but denies the other charges, and B claims he tried to separate A and director Kim Chang-min.<
[Photo] SNS
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