A court sentenced a Chinese man in his 40s to life in prison for beating a supermarket owner in his 70s to death with a blunt weapon in Incheon and fleeing with cash and valuables.
The 15th criminal division of the Incheon District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Jung-heon, handed down the sentence on the 1st to the defendant, identified only as A, who had been indicted and detained on charges including robbery and murder.
"Human life is dignified in itself, regardless of age or social standing," the court said. "Robbery resulting in death is a crime that takes a life for financial gain, making it highly unlawful and blameworthy. That is why the law, unlike ordinary homicide, allows only the death penalty or life imprisonment for this offense."
The court said the defendant stole cash from the victim's supermarket to raise money, then killed the victim and seized cash and valuables. "He waited for more than an hour in the backyard of the store with a blunt weapon he had prepared in advance, then struck the victim repeatedly and killed him brutally," the court said.
The court also weighed the defendant's efforts to evade pursuit after the crime.
"The fear and terror the victim must have felt before dying are beyond measure," the court said. "After the crime, he changed clothes and switched taxis several times to evade investigators. Considering the method of the crime and the circumstances before and after, the nature of the offense is extremely grave and his culpability is heavy."
The court added that the victim had supported his family financially and that his relatives were deeply attached to him. "The bereaved family lost him suddenly and now face pain that may never heal in their lifetime, yet the defendant made no effort whatsoever to seek their forgiveness," the court said.
The defendant was charged with striking the victim, a man in his 70s identified only as B, repeatedly with a blunt weapon at a supermarket in Dohwa-dong, Michuhol-gu, Incheon, at around 9 p.m. on June 6, killing him and fleeing with 700,000 won and a gold ring.
Investigators found that the defendant had also broken into the same supermarket about a month earlier, on May 9, and stolen cash worth about 2.76 million won.
The defendant owed about 400 million won in debt from sports betting and used the proceeds of both the earlier theft and the fatal robbery for sports gambling, according to the investigation.
On the day of the killing, he prepared a claw hammer in advance and lingered near the supermarket for more than an hour, observing the victim's movements and the situation at the store.
After the crime, he changed clothes and fled to Seoul, switching taxis several times. Police tracked his route through closed-circuit television footage and arrested him the next day at a cafe in Seoul.
Prosecutors sought a life sentence at the final hearing on the 1st of last month.
In his closing statement at the time, the defendant said, "If it offers even a little comfort to the bereaved family suffering because of me, I would like the court to impose the heaviest sentence on me."
