Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for a man in his 40s accused of killing his older brother and father in succession.
According to legal circles on the 8th, prosecutors on the 7th asked the court at the Busan District Court to "sentence A to death, the maximum penalty under law," during the trial of A, a man in his 40s, on charges including robbery-murder.
Explaining the basis for their sentencing request, prosecutors said, "The defendant killed his brother and father in succession." They added, "Because the nature of the crime is very serious, a severe judgment of the law should rightly be handed down."
A is accused of giving his older brother B, who was in his 40s, a drink laced with sleeping pills on the afternoon of December 29, 2024, in Seoul, then forcibly placing a boiled egg in his mouth to block his airway and cause his death. A is also reported to face charges of transferring approximately 11.5 million won from B's account to another account.
A, who admitted to killing his brother during police questioning before reversing his statement, is reported to have fully denied the charges in court as well. A's defense lawyer countered, "The brother was alive when the defendant left the house," adding, "The possibility cannot be ruled out that the airway obstruction occurred while he tried to eat the egg himself."
The first-instance verdict is scheduled for August 11.
Meanwhile, A had previously been indicted on charges of killing his father by stabbing him multiple times with a weapon, receiving a 27-year prison sentence in the first-instance trial, with the second-instance trial currently underway. The investigation found that A had deliberately killed his father in order to secure first-priority inheritance rights to his deceased brother's estate.
Meanwhile, while Korea has not carried out an execution for 28 years, "this country" has already executed 26 people this year alone.
