South Korea | Life Sentence Upheld for Gimpo Family Killer

Court rejects death penalty, citing reflection over life imprisonment for parricide and murder

A man in his 30s who killed three family members, including his parents and older brother, in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the second trial.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Incheon Branch of the Seoul High Court (Judge Lee Jeong-min) sentenced A, who faces charges of parricide and murder, to life imprisonment on the 8th, upholding the lower court’s ruling.

A is accused of stabbing three people to death with a weapon at a single-family house in Haseong-myeon, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, on July 10 of last year. The victims were his parents, in their 60s to 70s, and his older brother, in his 30s.

Investigations revealed that A stabbed his father and brother around 11 a.m. on the day of the crime and his mother, who returned home around 1 p.m. after going out, with a weapon.

Police responded to a report from a friend of A’s mother at around 10:54 a.m. on the 11th, the day after the crime, stating, “There are bloodstains in front of the house,” and urgently arrested A, who was sleeping at home.

A, who worked as a freelance website developer, was found to have been living with his parents at the time due to a lack of work.

Investigations showed that A harbored resentment after assaulting his parents, who had expressed concern for him, and being beaten by his older brother on the day of the incident. Before the crime, A was found to have searched for keywords such as “psychiatric murder” online and read related articles. During the trial, A claimed the crime was “impulsive.”

Earlier, prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for A. The first-instance court stated, “While there are aspects of the prosecution’s opinion that are understandable,” it judged that “rather than depriving the defendant of life, it would be better for him to serve a prison sentence in isolation from society, reflecting on his actions toward the deceased family members.”

The appellate court stated, “There have been no circumstances since the lower court’s ruling that would warrant changing the sentencing,” and added, “Considering various sentencing factors, the sentence from the lower court does not appear unjustly lenient or harsh.”

This article has been translated by Upstage Solar AI.

Source: chosun.com, Kim Soo-un, May 8, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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