Daegu man gets 45 years for killing mother-in-law and dumping body in suitcase
A Daegu court sentenced Cho Jae-bok, 26, to 45 years in prison for beating his mother-in-law to death and dumping her body in a suitcase near a stream.
Cho Jae-bok, 26, who was convicted of murdering his mother-in-lawDAEGU METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY
A court sentenced a 26-year-old Cho Jae-bok to 45 years in prison Thursday for beating his mother-in-law to death and dumping her body in a suitcase.
“The murder of an ascendant violates the right to life, an absolute value enshrined in the Constitution, and can never be tolerated under any circumstances,” the Daegu District Court said. “Such a crime does more than take a person's life. It betrays the trust that binds families and society and constitutes an inhumane act.”
Cho beat his 54-year-old mother-in-law to death over 10 hours on March 17 at an officetel, a unit in a building zoned for commercial and residential purposes, in Jung District, Daegu. He allegedly struck her with a blunt object and his hands and feet before placing her body in a suitcase and dumping it along a stream in the city. The mother-in-law died from multiple injuries across her body, investigators found.
The court also cited Cho's repeated abuse of his mother-in-law and his conduct after her death.
“The defendant repeatedly assaulted his mother-in-law, who lived with him, because he could not control his anger, and the victim’s health deteriorated rapidly,” the court said. “After the victim died, he disposed of the body in a suitcase and is showing no signs of remorse, such as by exchanging messages with another woman.”
Cho faced additional charges of aggravated confinement resulting in injury and other offenses. He allegedly installed cameras inside the home to prevent his wife and mother-in-law from escaping and to control their movement and exploit them financially.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, along with an order requiring Cho to wear an electronic ankle monitor for 30 years and undergo 35 years of probation.
“Even after taking into account the defendant's developmental disability, he must be permanently isolated from society,” prosecutors argued.
“This was a brutal crime in which the defendant beat his mother-in-law to death,” prosecutors said. “The assault continued for hours, and he did not stop even as the victim and her daughter pleaded with him in agony. He forced the daughter to witness the death of her own mother, who had come to protect her.”
Cho's defense attorney acknowledged that he had been aware his actions could cause his mother-in-law's death and had accepted that risk, as well as admitting to the charge of abandoning her body. But the defense maintained that Cho had not actually expected her to die.
Cho Jae-bok, center, is transferred to prosecutors from a Daegu police station on April 9, 2026.NEWS1
“He admits that he beat her, but he genuinely did not think she would die,” the attorney argued.
“I am truly sorry to my mother-in-law and my wife, and I will never do it again,” Cho said at his final hearing on Sept. 17. “I will never commit such an act again, and I will live as a good person.”
His attorney also urged the court to consider Cho's developmental disability and below-average intellectual ability in assessing his expressions of remorse.
“The defendant has a developmental disability and a lower IQ than the average person, which limits his ability to think deeply about the consequences of his actions,” the attorney said. “It would be unfair to interpret that simply as a lack of remorse.”
The defense also disputed prosecutors' allegations that Cho had confined his wife and argued that the couple regularly went shopping and to the movies together.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
