Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering Brother and Father Over Inheritance Using Hard-Boiled Egg

A man in his 40s has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his older brother and subsequently his father out of greed for their property.

The Busan District Court announced today (August 11) that it sentenced the man, in his 40s, identified as A, to life imprisonment on charges of murder.

In December 2024, A visited his older brother's home in Seoul.

He gave his brother a beverage spiked with psychotropic drugs, and after the brother's consciousness and breathing functions deteriorated, he placed a baked egg into his mouth.

The brother ultimately died from asphyxiation due to airway obstruction.

Following this, in March of last year, A went to his father's apartment in Haeundae-gu, Busan, and stabbed his father, who was in his 60s, to death with a weapon multiple times.

A went so far as to meticulously plan the crime by changing into prepared clothes in an alleyway out of CCTV view, entering his father's house, wearing gloves found at the entrance, and retrieving a weapon from the kitchen before launching the attack.

The motive for the crimes was property.

A's older brother had inherited and owned a house in Busan from their mother, who passed away in 2019.

For A to inherit this property, his brother had to die, and their father—the primary heir under the Civil Act—had to renounce his inheritance.

Investigations revealed that after murdering his brother, A urged his father to renounce the inheritance, and when the father refused, he murdered him as well.

During the trial, A's legal team denied the charges, claiming that "the brother may have choked on a baked egg while eating it on his own."

However, the court rejected this argument.

Evidence surfaced showing that A had obtained prescriptions for psychotropic drugs and searched for lethal doses prior to the crime, and that on the day of the incident, he stopped by a pharmacy and a convenience store to prepare the beverage and the egg.

Nevertheless, the court sentenced A to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty requested by prosecutors.

The court explained its sentencing rationale, stating, "The death penalty is an extreme punishment where the state forcibly deprives an individual of life," while adding, "Considering A's age, environment, and upbringing, it is difficult to conclude that there is absolutely no room for rehabilitation and reform."

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.