Man kills neighbor before mutilating, dumping her body in a stream
Published: 29 Jan. 2026, 20:12
![Police logo [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/29/af18117c-d444-4a7e-8386-72ba8b39d144.jpg)
Police logo [YONHAP]
A man who killed his female neighbor and then mutilated and dumped the body was sentenced to a lengthy prison term in a first-instance ruling on Thursday.
The Chuncheon District Court sentenced the defendant to 30 years in prison on charges including murder, desecration and abandonment of a corpse and violation of the Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking and ordered him to complete 40 hours of a stalking treatment program.
The victim was “effectively related by marriage” to the killer, according to the court. The defendant committed the crime after suspecting the victim of seeing another man. He killed her on Oct. 3, 2025, before mutilating and disposing of her body near a stream in an attempt to cover up the crime.
“Given the motive, method and circumstances of the crime, severe punishment is unavoidable,” the court said.
The court added that the victim likely suffered extreme physical and psychological pain before death and that the bereaved family has experienced severe trauma. It also noted that the defendant made no effort to remedy the damage that he caused.
Police began a search on the evening of Oct. 6 after receiving a report from the victim's family that she had left home and not returned. Search teams using tracking dogs found the mutilated body in a stream near Sanyang-ri, Sangseo-myeon, Hwacheon County, Gangwon, at around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 8.
After investigating the case as a suspected homicide, police identified the man as the prime suspect the next day and arrested him. As investigators closed in, the suspect took drugs. After receiving hospital treatment, he was taken into custody.
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 JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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