Court finds no murder intent in case of man who beat, sexually assaulted girlfriend to death

A court has acquitted a man of murder charges in the death of his girlfriend, whom he allegedly beat and sexually assaulted, ruling that he lacked the intent to kill. The case has moved to appeal, where the question of murder intent will be reconsidered.

The Seoul High Court's Chuncheon division, First Criminal Panel, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Eun-hye, held the first appeal hearing Wednesday in the case of A (30), who faces charges of robbery-murder and quasi-rape murder. The court said it would designate a neurosurgery specialist as an expert committee member.

The panel said it needed a medical assessment of the likelihood that the victim would have survived had A immediately called emergency services or taken her to a hospital when he checked on her condition. The court said it would hear from the neurosurgery specialist before resuming the trial on Dec. 16.

A was indicted after allegedly subjecting his girlfriend to two days of indiscriminate beatings and sexual assault at his home in January, after she had been in contact with another man. She died as a result.

Police initially charged A only with bodily injury resulting in death and forwarded the case to prosecutors while he remained in detention. Prosecutors, however, launched a supplementary investigation based on severe bruising found on the victim's face and records showing she had previously reported being stalked by A.

A forensic examination of A's mobile phone revealed that he had extorted money from the victim under the guise of a "fine" and had forcibly committed quasi-rape against her.

Investigators also found that even after the victim lost consciousness, A did not immediately call for help. Instead, he spent about an hour searching terms such as "cerebral hemorrhage" and "pupil movement" on his phone while leaving her unattended.

A forensic advisory panel at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office concluded that the victim died from head trauma caused by external impact. On that basis, prosecutors indicted A in detention on charges of robbery-murder and quasi-rape murder — rather than the lesser charge of bodily injury resulting in death — and sought a life sentence.

A's defense argued that he had no intent to kill the victim and that only the charge of bodily injury resulting in death should apply. After weighing both sides, the court of first instance ruled that it was difficult to conclude A had acted with murderous intent.

The court cited the absence of evidence that A had concentrated his attacks on vital or particularly vulnerable areas of the body with the aim of killing her. It also took into account that the victim had a liver condition that made her susceptible to traumatic cerebral hemorrhage even from relatively minor impacts.

The court further noted that A had not used a weapon or any other implement during the assault, and that he had eventually called emergency services and accompanied the victim to the hospital. The fact that he had applied ointment to her injuries and used ice packs during the assault was also seen as inconsistent with an intent to kill.

The court did, however, find A guilty of the lesser charges of robbery resulting in death and quasi-rape resulting in death, and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

Prosecutors appealed, arguing that the trial court had misread the facts and misapplied the law in failing to find murderous intent, and that the sentence was too lenient. A also appealed, citing errors of fact, misapplication of law and an unjust sentence.