Yang Jeong-ryeol, the defendant in the 'Kimcheon officetel murder case,' who killed an acquaintance of the same age with whom he had no prior contact and took out a loan using the victim's fingerprints, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the appellate trial.
The Daegu High Court Criminal Division 1 (Director General Jeong Seong-wook) upheld the original sentence of life imprisonment while dismissing the appeals from Yang Jeong-ryeol (32), who was indicted on charges of robbery-murder.
The court stated, "The crime is extremely heinous, as the defendant decided to rob unspecified individuals with the intent to alleviate his dire economic situation and killed the victim by stabbing him multiple times with a weapon he prepared in advance."
The court added, "The bereaved family is suffering a painful life in great shock, and while it is necessary to consider the need for a death penalty in light of the repeated submissions of petitions requesting the death penalty, the defendant has deeply repented for his wrongdoing and has led a smooth school life without delinquency despite growing up in an unfortunate family environment, with no prior criminal record."
Upon the sentencing of life imprisonment, the bereaved family seated in the public gallery wept silently, crying, "Save my son!"
Yang is charged with killing the victim, A (31), whom he had no prior acquaintance with, in an officetel in Kimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, in November last year and taking out a loan of 60 million won using the victim's mobile phone.
The prosecution sought the death penalty, the maximum sentence, for Yang.