Prosecutors sought the death penalty, the maximum sentence under the law, for teacher Myeong Jae-wan (48), who was indicted and detained on charges of murdering first grader Kim Ha-neul (8) at an elementary school in Daejeon where he worked.
At the first trial on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (abduction or luring for profit, etc.) for Myeong, held on the 22nd under the 12th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Byeong-man), the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office asked the court to sentence him to death.
Prosecutors said, "The victim child's parents and family, with grief that cuts to the bone, are hoping for a heavy punishment for the defendant," and noted, "An innocent child was brutally murdered, and although dozens of letters of remorse have been submitted, there was no sign of remorse at all during the investigation stage," explaining the reason for the sentencing request. Since being brought to trial in Apr., Myeong has submitted 86 letters of remorse to the court.
Around 5 p.m. on Feb. 10, after first grader Kim finished after-school care and was heading home at an elementary school in Daejeon where he worked as a teacher, Myeong allegedly lured her to the audiovisual room by saying he would give her a book, then fatally stabbed her with a weapon he had prepared in advance.
Prosecutors also found that four to five days before the crime, Myeong kicked and smashed a work computer in a campus lab and assaulted a fellow teacher by wrapping an arm around the colleague's neck and pressing hard after saying, "Let's leave work together," and filed charges accordingly.
Prosecutors described it as an "aberrant-motive crime," saying that as anger from family discord and feelings of alienation, regret over a hasty return to work, and poor adjustment at the workplace intensified, he brutally murdered an elementary school student weaker than himself to vent that anger.
The investigation found that before the crime, Myeong searched the internet for ways to kill and purchased a weapon in advance, indicating meticulous planning.
In his final statement, Myeong said, "I deeply apologize to the bereaved family, and I apologize that an unthinkable incident occurred at a school, which should be the safest place, at the hands of a teacher," adding, "While receiving psychiatric treatment, my judgment was impaired and I was in a pathological state, and I will reflect on my wrongdoing for as long as I live."
Meanwhile, although a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation requested by Myeong's side concluded that he was in a state of diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime, prosecutors countered that, based on advice from a psychiatry specialist during the investigation and his behavior before and after the crime, he was not in a state of diminished capacity and was fully able to foresee the meaning and consequences of his actions.
The sentencing hearing will be held on the 20th of next month.