A shaman in her 70s who bound her niece and applied charcoal heat under the pretext of expelling an evil spirit, brutally killing her, was sentenced to life in prison.
The Criminal Division 16 of the Incheon District Court (chief judge Yun I-jin) on the 25th sentenced shaman A (79, female), who was indicted and detained on a murder charge, to life in prison. Four accomplices, including A's children, who were indicted on the same charge were each sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison, and two others who were charged with aiding and abetting murder were each sentenced to 10 years.
The court said, "The defendants bound the victim and tortured her with charcoal heat for a long time, and their method was so cruel and grotesque that it is hard to find precedent," adding, "The defendants were A's relatives or family members, so the crime can only be seen as anti-human."
It added, "The victim could not endure the extreme pain, went into convulsions, and lost consciousness," and "It is difficult to gauge the magnitude of the pain the victim would have suffered until her death."
The court explained its sentencing reasons, saying, "The victim died without receiving rescue measures for more than two hours after the crime, but the defendants tried to cover up the crime by cleaning up the scene and falsely telling the 119 paramedics who responded that 'she fell facedown on the charcoal' or 'we don't know what happened.'"
The court did not include the victim's parents' lack of intent to punish as a mitigating factor. The court said, "The victim's parents had long been under A's psychological control and even said they were grateful to them."
Earlier, at the sentencing hearing last month, prosecutors sought life in prison for A, 15 to 20 years for the four accomplices, and 7 years for the two others charged with aiding and abetting murder.
A and others were indicted on charges of killing a woman in her 30s, B, using charcoal heat at a restaurant in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, on Sept. 18 last year. When B, A's niece, quit working at the shop and tried to leave her side, A said they needed to "expel an evil spirit," called in her children and followers, bound B to a metal structure, and applied charcoal heat to her body for three hours, according to the investigation.
B, who lost consciousness, was taken to a hospital but was reported to have died from multiple organ failure caused by burns.
Police had previously referred A and others on a charge of injury resulting in death, but prosecutors changed the charge to murder after additional investigation and indicted them.