35-Year Prison Term Finalized for Man in His 20s Who Killed Taxi Driver
A man in his 20s who stabbed a taxi driver in his 60s dozens of times with a weapon, killing him, has had his 35-year prison sentence finalized. The Supreme Court's Second Division (presided over by Justice Oh Kyung-mi) finalized the lower court ruling last month, sentencing A, who was indicted on charges of murder, attempted murder, and theft, to 35 years in prison and ordering him to wear an electronic ankle monitor (tracking device) for 20 years.
The court found A guilty of murdering taxi driver B by stabbing him with a weapon on a road in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in the early hours of June 26, 2023. According to the investigation, B became lost because the destination A provided did not appear on the navigation system, and after his car struck an object, he got out of the driver's seat to calculate the fare — at which point A, enraged, pulled a weapon from his bag and committed the crime.
A was also charged with attempted murder for violently ramming the taxi into two men who approached the scene after hearing B's screams and tried to call the police, and with theft for driving the taxi away himself.
In the first trial, A was sentenced to 35 years in prison and ordered to wear a tracking device for 20 years. Although A argued that he was in a state of diminished mental capacity due to delusional disorder, the first-trial court rejected the claim, ruling that even if he suffered from an unspecified form of schizophrenia, it was difficult to conclude that it affected his ability to discern objects or make decisions at the time of the crime. However, regarding the death sentence prosecutors had sought in the first trial, the court explained: 'Given that the defendant's illness appears to have influenced part of the crime, and that he shows at least minimal bonds with his family, it cannot be concluded that circumstances justifying the death penalty have been clearly established.'
Both the appeals court and the Supreme Court found no fault in the first-trial ruling and dismissed the appeal.
