▲ Kim So-young, suspect in the "Gangbuk Motel Serial Murders"
Kim So-young, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial for the "Gangbuk Motel Serial Murders," maintained in her appeal that she had no intent to kill.
The 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Koo Hoi-keun) held the first appellate hearing for Kim, who was indicted on charges including murder, today (October 21).
Kim appeared in court wearing a prison uniform with her hair tied back in a ponytail.
Kim's defense counsel denied the allegation that she handed hangover relief drinks mixed with crushed pills to some of the victims, arguing that there was no intent to murder the victims.
The prosecution stated that the reasons for its appeal were factual and legal misapprehension regarding the first trial's partial acquittal on charges of special bodily injury, as well as inappropriate sentencing.
The court stated, "Her reflection letters repeatedly claim that it was not intentional, and I will question the defendant at the next hearing," adding that it plans to conclude the trial after questioning the defendant on December 9.
Kim was indicted in March and taken into custody on charges of giving drinks laced with benzodiazepine-class drugs to three men in their 20s between December of last year and February of this year, resulting in the deaths of two and leaving one unconscious.
She also faces charges of inflicting injury on three other men using a similar method.
Previously, the first trial sentenced her to life imprisonment, stating, "We intend to maintain social stability and order by permanently isolating the defendant from society," and ordered the attachment of a location-tracking electronic device (electronic anklet) for 30 years.
However, the court also took into consideration, to a limited extent, that Kim has low intelligence and grew up facing abuse and an underprivileged family environment during her childhood.
(Photo provided by Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, Yonhap News)
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