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| ▲ This undated file photo shows Lee Kyeong-woo, the suspected mastermind in the abduction and murder of a woman in Seoul's Gangnam Ward in March. (Yonhap) |
Gangnam murder-sentence
Life sentences given to 2 men in abduction, murder of woman in Seoul's Gangnam
SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Wednesday delivered a sentence of life imprisonment to two men behind the abduction and murder of a woman in downtown Seoul in March.
The two -- Lee Kyeong-woo and Hwang Dae-han, both aged 36 -- have been indicted for kidnapping a 48-year-old woman near an apartment building in Gangnam Ward on March 29, killing her the following day and burying her body on a hill in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul.
Lee is also suspected of proposing the murder of the woman to a couple in conflict with the victim due to the failure of a cryptocurrency investment and receiving 70 million won (US$51,832) for preparations last year.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee and Hwang to life in prison while handing out prison terms of eight years and six years to the couple, respectively.
The court recognized that Lee and Hwang premeditated and colluded for the murder, but concluded that the couple, however, hadn't gone as far as colluding in the murder with them.
"It's questionable whether Lee and Hwang are repenting for their wrongdoings as they are denying the murder was deliberate and that they were the ones who proposed the crime first," the court said.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for all four suspects.
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