[Anchor]
Kim So-young, the defendant in the motel serial drug murder case, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. The prosecution, which had demanded the death penalty, is considering an appeal.
Reporter Lee Se-hyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
Kim So-young appeared in the courtroom yesterday (the 27th) for her first-trial sentencing hearing, wearing a green prison uniform with a expressionless face.
Kim has stood trial for five months on charges of handing drinks laced with drugs, including hangover relief beverages, to six men starting in October of last year, resulting in the deaths of two and injuring four others.
While the prosecution previously demanded the death penalty for Kim, the first-instance court sentenced her to life imprisonment along with 30 years of wearing an electronic tracking bracelet.
Throughout the trial, Kim denied the charges, claiming, "I did not know the risk of death" and "I only wanted to make them sleep because I was concerned about their excessive physical contact," but the court rejected her arguments.
Although she searched ChatGPT with questions such as, "Is it dangerous to take an overdose of sleeping pills with alcohol?" and claimed she could not remember making the searches, the court stated, "It is unconvincing to claim you cannot remember the ChatGPT conversation details while remembering the victims' minute actions," ruling that she had eventual intent to commit murder.
The court also pointed out that "there were no circumstances showing the victims attempted excessive physical contact," dismissing Kim's claim that her actions were "to defend against sexual violence."
However, the court acquitted her of an incident last year in October where a man temporarily lost consciousness while having a meal with Kim, citing a lack of direct evidence.
The bereaved family expressed regret over the life sentence rather than the death penalty.
[Nam Eon-ho / Attorney for the Bereaved Family: We have a sense of regret, hoping that the court would actively consider declaring the most severe punishment currently available, even if only declaratorily.]
As the prosecution also reviews whether to appeal, the bereaved family stated that they will convey the necessity of an appeal to the prosecution.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Choi Dae-woong | Video edited by Jeong Yong-hwa | Design by Seo Seung-hyun)
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