Home > National > Social Affairs

Man who killed woman he didn't know and dumped body sentenced to 30 years

Published: 25 Jun. 2025, 13:44

A man who killed a woman in her 50s he had never met and dumped her body in a wooded area has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Court on Wednesday sentenced the 33-year-old man to 30 years in prison for murder and abandoning a corpse. The court also ordered him to wear an electronic location tracking device for 10 years following the completion of his prison term.

“The defendant murdered the victim and went on to visit karaoke rooms and massage parlors while looking for a place to dump the body — his conduct is extremely egregious,” the court said. “It is also difficult to consider the killing as impulsive, given the unpredictability of the situation.”

The court added that the defendant made no effort to console the victim’s family. However, it also noted that the sentence took into consideration the fact that the defendant had fully admitted to the crime.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence during a previous hearing on May 12.

The defendant was arrested and indicted for strangling the victim, a woman in her 50s, at around 7 a.m. on Feb. 13 inside a karaoke room in Bucheon, Gyeonggi.

Following the killing, he placed the body in his car and drove around Bucheon and Incheon for two days. During this period, he used the victim’s credit card to spend over 1.2 million won ($881) and also stole two rings and a bracelet from her.

The next day at around 6:30 p.m., he climbed a hill in the Seo District of Incheon and left the body in a pile of garbage.

According to investigators, the victim and the defendant were not acquaintances and had met for the first time that day. They were the only two people in the karaoke room at the time of the crime.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]