A man convicted of patricide received a reduced sentence in his appellate trial, as the court took into consideration that the murder had been an unplanned act in response to the victim's frequent abuse of his family.
The Seoul High Court upheld the ruling that found the defendant in his 30s guilty of the murder of an ascendant, but reduced the prison term to six years from the lower court's 10 years. It rejected the defendant’s claims that his actions were in self-defense against the victim, who he said tried to stab the defendant's mother and daughter with a knife.
The defendant is accused of striking the victim with a frying pan at their home in the Philippines in October 2017. The victim had been infuriated over a delay in opening his restaurant there, turning his anger toward the family and hitting the defendant and his sister in the process.
The victim then picked up a knife and swung it toward the defendant's mother, and the defendant was cut on his arms while trying to stop him. The defendant then picked up a frying pan to knock the victim unconscious, after which he strangled him to death.
The case was handed over to South Korea's investigative authorities and the defendant was indicted for murder in 2018. The trial was delayed multiple times before commencing in September last year.
The earlier court ruling had pointed out that the victim was killed after he had been knocked unconscious, which showed a clear intent to kill.
But the appellate court said it considered that the victim had frequently abused his family verbally and that he had threatened the defendant’s mother and sister on the day of the crime.
"It appears that the defendant was shocked and enraged by the domestic violence of the victim, and ended up committing the crime," the Seoul High Court said. It also took into consideration that the defendant had no prior criminal record, and that the rest of the family has pleaded for leniency.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
