A man in his 30s who killed his mother believing that God would bring her back to life was sentenced to a heavy term in his first trial.
The 11th Criminal Division of the Cheongju District Court on the 8th sentenced a defendant identified as A to 18 years in prison on charges of murdering a lineal ascendant. The court also ordered treatment and custody and five years of probation. However, it did not accept the prosecution's request for an electronic monitoring order.
A was brought to trial on charges of beating his mother, identified as B, to death with a blunt object in the master bedroom at about 2:40 p.m. on Dec. 2 last year while she was taking a nap.
Immediately after the crime, during an investigation by authorities, A was quoted as saying, "I believed God would protect my mother and bring her back to life," and "the God in my heart promised not to trigger my trauma and broke that promise. To escape the torment in my heart, I decided to kill my mother."
However, in court A changed the account of the motive. A said, "I came to Goesan because I didn't want to hear my mother's nagging, but she chased me (all the way to Goesan), so I killed her," adding, "It was not for religious reasons."
The court found that A still did not properly reflect on the wrongdoing even after the crime.
The court noted, "The defendant thought that even if he killed his mother, God would bring her back to life, and, while complaining of the pain of incarceration and applying for a stay of detention, failed to reflect on the wrongdoing."
However, factors such as being in a state of diminished mental capacity at the time were reflected in sentencing. The court said, "He repeatedly failed at social life due to severe atopic dermatitis and a slight build, lived in seclusion, developed schizophrenia, and committed the crime in a state of diminished mental capacity," adding, "We determined the sentence by taking into account, among other things, a plea for leniency from the defendant's father, who is the victim's husband."