A woman in her 50s (59) who went on trial for attempting to murder her husband by cutting an important part of his body with a weapon was sentenced to seven years in prison. However, she was acquitted of the attempted murder charge.
On the 23rd, the 13th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Ki-pung) sentenced son-in-law B (40) to four years in prison and daughter C (37) to a fine of 3 million won for illegally tracking the victim's location using a private detective agency, in connection with A, who was indicted and detained on charges including attempted murder.
The court noted, "The victim likely felt extreme fear and pain at the time of the crime, and A and others did not provide aid despite the victim suffering serious injuries."
However, it judged that "it is insufficient to recognize, based on the prosecution's evidence alone, that A committed the crime with intent to kill."
The court found that although A stabbed areas such as her husband's buttocks with a weapon, she did not target vital spots, the wounds were not deep, and the victim was able to be discharged and return to daily life 10 days after being hospitalized. It also reflected in sentencing that A admitted most of the crime and showed remorse, that she reached a settlement with the victim, and that the victim did not want punishment.
At the sentencing hearing last month, prosecutors sought 15 years in prison for A, seven years for B, and a fine of 3 million won for C.
In her final statement, A said, "I tried to protect my family, but the sense of betrayal grew and I lost my reason," and pleaded, "Please show leniency just once."
According to police and prosecutorial investigations, the incident occurred around 1 a.m. on Aug. 1 last year at a cafe in Ganghwa County, Incheon. A was found to have stabbed the lower body of her husband D (in his 50s) about 50 times with a weapon and then put the severed part in a toilet and flushed it. At the time, son-in-law B subdued D.
Daughter C was indicted along with them on charges of tracking D's location using a private detective agency. Police applied the general attempted murder charge to son-in-law B instead of attempted parricide.