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Man given life in prison for rape and murder of sister-in-law

Published: 30 Nov. 2025, 12:17 Updated: 30 Nov. 2025, 18:25

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A man in his 30s was handed life in prison for raping and murdering his sister-in-law, after an appellate court rejected his appeal.

The Busan High Court’s Ulsan branch dismissed an appeal by the defendant and upheld the original sentence of life imprisonment, according to News1 on Saturday. The man, who was convicted of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, was also ordered to wear an electronic tracking device for 30 years and was banned from working in institutions related to children, teenagers and people with disabilities for 10 years.

The defendant was found guilty of raping and killing his sister-in-law, a woman in her 40s, at her apartment in Nam District, Ulsan, on Dec. 5 last year. He had married the victim’s older sister in 2017 and, over time, grew resentful toward his in-laws due to marital discord and conflict with his father-in-law. When the victim refused to take his side in family disputes, he targeted her.

Prior to the crime, the man concealed his identity by preparing a neck warmer, a hat and a change of clothes. He also searched online for phrases such as “fainting from choking,” “carotid artery compression” and “head trauma.”

On the day of the murder, he broke into the victim’s home using a passcode he had secretly memorized during a past family gathering. He entered the apartment while she was out dropping her child off at preschool. When she returned, he covered her face with a blanket and raped her.

During the assault, the victim removed the blanket and recognized that he was her brother-in-law. In response, the man slammed her head against the floor and strangled her to death. He then moved her body to the bathroom and poured water and detergent on the floor in an attempt to stage the scene to look like an accidental fall.

The Busan District Court flag [YONHAP]

Afterward, he changed into the clothes he had prepared in advance, returned to his own home, casually cooked and ate instant noodles and watched pornography. He even attended the victim’s funeral and took care of her children.

Two months later, the man was arrested by police.

In the first trial, the court said the man had “meticulously planned his tools and methods, raped and murdered the victim, then attempted to disguise the crime as an accident and destroyed evidence.” The court also noted that he had not sought forgiveness from the victim’s family or made any effort to provide restitution.

Still, the court acknowledged that he had no prior criminal record and had grown up in a troubled home environment, adding that his distorted views on sex may have been influenced by his own past experience of sexual violence. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The defendant appealed, arguing the sentence was too harsh, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal and upheld the original verdict.

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.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]