A man in his 60s who murdered his ex-wife and dumped her body in a suitcase was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

On the 13th, Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 23 (Chief Judge Oh Se-yong) sentenced Mr. Lee, who was charged with murder and abandonment of a corpse, to 25 years in prison and ordered him to be on probation for 5 years.

Mr. Lee was arrested and indicted on charges of murdering his ex-wife in her 50s at an apartment in Umyeon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul at around 11:20 a.m. on March 30, then putting her body in a travel bag and abandoning it.

The police dispatched after receiving a report from his son that he could not contact his parents and immediately arrested Mr. Lee, who abandoned the body in a drainage ditch at a cemetery in Eumseong Yasan, North Chungcheong Province, around 5 PM on the same day.

At the investigative agency and trial, Mr. Lee claimed that he had accidentally killed his ex-wife while trying to communicate with her to confirm the circumstances after she filed a property division lawsuit.

The court pointed out, "It is a crime of hitting the victim, who had been married for 28 years and lived together, in the face several times, strangling her with both hands to death, then transporting the body in a carrier and abandoning it in a mountain drainage ditch. The guilt is very serious and the nature of the crime is quite bad."

He continued, "During the marriage, the victim took responsibility for the household and raised the children on behalf of the defendant. Even though the defendant did not take care of the family, he opposed the victim's request for divorce property division, so the motive for the crime was extremely poor."

The court also determined that Mr. Lee immediately abandoned the body without providing any relief measures and meticulously concealed the crime by removing the cell phone SIM card and discarding the towel with which he had wiped the blood stains.

At the same time, he criticized, "Rather than acting out of embarrassment on the part of the person who committed the accidental murder, it appears to have been done for the purpose of minimizing the possibility of detection and arrest of the crime," adding, "During this process, the defendant did not even make an effort to show the minimum courtesy toward the victim's death."

The court pointed out, "It is difficult to imagine the shock and horror of the deceased victim until he took his last breath after the defendant's attack, and the defendant and the victim's son are in deep sorrow and extreme mental pain due to this incident."

The court also ordered probation, saying it could not rule out the possibility that Mr. Lee would commit a murder crime out of dissatisfaction and spite toward his two sons.

Mr. Lee's second son is said to have previously stated to investigative agencies and the court, "If my father is released, he will harm my brother and me for making unfavorable statements, and if he is released decades later, he will likely kill me and my wife and children."

The court said, “Murder is a crime that irreversibly infringes on the life of a person with dignity and absolute value,” and added, “It is so highly condemnable that it is difficult to compare it with any other crime.”

However, it was explained that the reasons for sentencing were reflected in the fact that Mr. Lee showed an attitude of reflecting on his mistakes and had no history of receiving criminal punishment.