Suspect accused of killing husband in his 80s with blunt object in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province
Jury unanimously accepted defense claims of excessive self-defense and diminished capacity
A woman in her 70s detained on charges of killing her domestic-violence husband received a suspended prison sentence at a citizen jury trial and returned home to her family.
The 13th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, 78, to three years in prison suspended for five years, the court announced Monday, following a citizen jury trial on murder charges.
A is accused of striking and killing her husband, identified as B, who was in his 80s, with a blunt object at an apartment in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, at around 10:10 p.m. on May 31.
A had endured domestic violence from B throughout their marriage, at one point divorcing him before reconciling at the urging of their children, after which she cared for him as he battled stomach cancer, according to investigators.
On the day of the incident, B tried to find alcohol and, when A stopped him, struck her on the head multiple times with a blunt object, the investigation found. A contacted her daughter immediately after the incident and disclosed what she had done, acknowledging the act from the earliest stages of the investigation.
The defense argued at trial that B had first struck A on the head multiple times with a hammer that day, fracturing her skull, and that A carried out the act after regaining consciousness in a state of extreme fear with severely impaired judgment. The defense contended that A's actions constituted "excessive self-defense" under Article 21, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Act and "diminished capacity" under Article 10, Paragraph 2.
All seven jurors unanimously accepted the defense's arguments. Although the minimum statutory sentence for murder is five years in prison, the court applied legal mitigating factors and handed down a three-year sentence suspended for five years.
betterj@heraldcorp.com
