Police decided to charge a civil servant in his 30s, accused of killing his wife after she fled domestic violence and filed for divorce, with "retaliatory murder," which carries a heavier sentence than ordinary murder.
At a regular press briefing on the 7th, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said it will apply charges against suspect A under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (retaliatory murder), the Act on the Punishment of Domestic Violence, the Child Welfare Act (child abuse), and special residential intrusion, and will refer A to prosecutors in custody on the 9th.
Police determined that A committed the crime out of spite after the wife filed for divorce while A was under court-issued temporary protection orders due to multiple instances of domestic violence.
In particular, based on A's statement to police that "anger exploded after receiving the divorce complaint," investigators viewed the crime as a retaliatory offense and changed the initial murder charge to retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
The statutory penalty for retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes is death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for at least 10 years. It is heavier than the statutory penalty for murder under the Criminal Act, which is death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for at least 5 years.
Police additionally applied a charge of violating the Act on the Punishment of Domestic Violence for A's failure to comply with the court's temporary protection orders.
Considering that the crime was committed in front of a young child, police also applied a charge of violating the Child Welfare Act. However, as no signs of direct physical force against the child were found, only emotional abuse was applied.
There was talk that the child victim had abrasions on the hand, but a check of the physical condition at the Sunflower Center reportedly found no injuries.
A police official said, "It seems there was a mistake because the victim's blood at the scene also got on the child," adding, "We will refer the suspect to prosecutors and continue the remaining investigation, including forensics on the suspect's computer and tablet seized from the residence."
At about 7:17 a.m. on the 1st, A is accused of fatally stabbing the wife with a weapon on a staircase of a multi-family housing building in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, after she had left the home and taken refuge to escape domestic violence.
A young child was found to have been at the scene at the time. Police was found that A committed the crime in front of the child, causing emotional abuse.
A was found to have harbored resentment, believing an unfavorable outcome would result from the divorce lawsuit with the wife, checked the address of the wife's temporary residence listed in the divorce complaint, went there, and then committed the crime.