Man who killed brother and father for inheritance sentenced to life in prison

A court sentenced a man in his 40s to life in prison Tuesday after he killed his older brother and father in a scheme to inherit the brother's property.

The Busan District Court's Criminal Division 7, presided over by Judge Im Ju-hyeok, convicted the defendant, identified only as A, on charges including robbery-murder and violations of the Narcotics Control Act in connection with his brother's death. A had previously received a 27-year prison term for killing his father.

On Dec. 19, 2024, A went to his brother's home in Seoul and gave him a drink laced with a psychotropic sedative. After the brother lost consciousness and his breathing became labored, A forced a hard-boiled egg into his mouth. The brother died of airway obstruction.

A then turned on his father. On the morning of March 26 last year, he went to his father's apartment in Haeundae-gu, Busan, and stabbed the man, who was in his 60s, multiple times with a bladed weapon, killing him.

Before entering the apartment, A changed into prepared clothing in an alley out of view of security cameras, put on gloves from the entryway and retrieved the weapon from the kitchen — a level of premeditation the court noted in its ruling.

Investigators determined that A committed the killings to inherit his brother's assets. The brother had inherited a house in Busan from their mother, who died in 2019. For A to receive that inheritance, the brother had to die first, and their father — the first-priority heir under civil law — had to renounce his claim.

Throughout the trial, A denied the charges. His defense argued that the brother had still been alive when A left his home, and suggested the brother may have choked on the egg on his own.

The court rejected that argument. An autopsy found a lethal dose of psychotropic medication in the brother's urine and blood, and records showed A had obtained a prescription for the drug beforehand and searched online for lethal dosages. It also emerged that on the day of the killing, A had stopped at a pharmacy and a convenience store to purchase the drink and egg.

"A killed his brother to resolve his own financial problems," the court said in its ruling. "He not only used his family as instruments but carried out the crimes in a calculated and meticulous manner, reflecting the grave nature of his offenses."

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the court opted for life imprisonment, explaining that capital punishment "is an extreme penalty in which the state forcibly takes an individual's life" and that, considering A's age, background and upbringing, "it is difficult to conclude there is absolutely no possibility of rehabilitation or reform."