First trial of killer Jang Yun-gi to open on 49th day after victim Lee Chae-won's death

The first trial of Jang Yun-gi, 23, who killed 17-year-old Lee Chae-won — a stranger he attacked on the street — is set to open Monday, exactly 49 days after her death.

The Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division 13, presided over by Judge Lee Jeong-ho, is scheduled to hold the opening hearing at 10 a.m. Monday in the case against Jang. He has been indicted on charges including rape-murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, according to legal sources Saturday.

Jang is accused of abducting a female high school sophomore on a deserted pedestrian path in Wolge-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, at around 12:10 a.m. on May 5 with the intent to sexually assault her, then stabbing her to death when she resisted.

The indictment also includes charges that Jang wielded a weapon against a male student who tried to help the victim at the scene, and that he stalked and sexually assaulted a female coworker, identified only as A, a Vietnamese national in her 20s.

During the police and prosecutors' investigation, Jang repeatedly claimed he had acted impulsively while contemplating suicide.

Prosecutors applied the rape-murder charge rather than ordinary murder, citing evidence that Jang had grabbed the victim from behind and attempted to drag her toward a vehicle — a method consistent with the circumstances of the sexual assault he had committed against A.

A rape-murder conviction carries only the death penalty or life imprisonment. Ordinary murder carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

Jang, who has retained a private criminal defense attorney, has not yet submitted a letter of remorse to the court.

The victim, Lee Chae-won, was a high school sophomore who had dreamed of becoming an emergency medical technician.

A memorial service marking the 49th day since her death will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education's Civic Governance Promotion Center.

‘주식으로 1억’ 날린 미자, 또?…“SK하닉 재입성” 소식에 “큰일 났다” 반응

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