Son appeals for severe punishment for the defendant who murdered his father... Refutation of ‘dementia claims’

“I couldn’t protect my father because I wasn’t good enough. If I had taken my father to a safe apartment, it wouldn’t have happened…”

At the first trial on the murder case of Mr. A (84), held on the 10th at the Criminal Division 1 of the Gunsan Branch of Jeonju District Court (Chief Judge Baek Sang-bin), the eldest son of victim B (in his 70s) said this in tears.

Mr. B's son said, "My father, who suffers from asthma, is a weak person who squeezes his chest and gasps for breath even when the air is slightly bad," and appealed with tears, "Please do not show leniency to the defendant, who singled out socially vulnerable people who had no power to protect themselves and brutally murdered them."

The heartbreaking words of the bereaved family that echoed in the courtroom were even more heartbreaking because of the attitude of Mr. A, the defendant in the murder case, in court that day.

Mr. A, who came to court wearing handcuffs and other punishment, sat in the defendant's seat with his body tilted at an angle and wearing a headset.

The judge politely asked three times, “Defendant, can’t you hear me?”, but Mr. A closed his eyes and made no response.

When the court inspector confirmed that there was no problem with the headset, Mr. A then shouted, "I can hear the sound, but I don't know what it means," "I don't know. I can't hear both," and "As you get older, you naturally lose hearing."

From the beginning of the investigation until the court date, he denied the crime, claiming to be suffering from severe dementia.

In response, Mr. B's son said, "The defendant is looking for a reason to reduce the sentence due to dementia, but I asked the police and people in the neighborhood," and added, "The defendant is a person who has a lot of strength and rides a bicycle to cultivate the rice fields 5 km away from the house."

He said, "Furthermore, the defendant has clear cognitive ability to the extent that he receives and counts the payment for his harvested crops in cash rather than bank transfer," and asked the court not to consider dementia as a reason for a reduced sentence, saying, "Please show that the innocent and vulnerable are not harmed and that justice exists in our society."

The judge comforted Mr. B's son, saying, "When I first saw this case, I thought it was fortunate that he was indicted for attempted murder... but I am very heartbroken that the result turned out like this."

At the same time, he promised, "It is necessary to objectively confirm the defendant's mental state, but we will look at it based on the time of the crime, not the current state." He also promised, "Even if such a mental state had some influence on the crime, the court will make a separate judgment (on the sentencing)."

On this day, the court accepted the lawyer's request for an evaluation of Mr. A's mental state, postponed the conclusion of the argument, and decided to continue the trial on the 1st of next month.

Mr. A was indicted on charges of killing his neighbor B (in his 70s) with a blunt object and stabbing him several times with a weapon in front of a house in Mohyeon-dong, Iksan-si, Jeollabuk-do at around 7:20 am on July 31st.

He committed the crime by overpowering Mr. B, who was passing in front of his house for no apparent reason, and dragging him into the yard.

Mr. B suffered serious injuries and was treated at the hospital, but died in his hospital bed on the 4th of this month, about a month after the incident.