Man in His 50s Cleared of Killing Cohabitant After Two-Year Legal Battle

A man in his 50s who was arrested on charges of beating his cohabitant to death has been cleared of the charges in court two years after the incident.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Jeonju District Court's Jeongeup Branch (Presiding Judge Jung Young-ha) acquitted the 52-year-old defendant, identified as A.

According to the indictment, the incident took place at around 10:17 PM on May 23, 2024, at a home in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do, shared by A and his 50-year-old cohabitant, B.

At the time, B collapsed in the bathroom for unknown reasons and sustained severe head injuries.

However, she did not receive timely treatment and died from brain swelling about a month later on June 18 of that year.

Initially, any causal relationship with A was not apparent in the case.

However, B's mother, C, who was inside the house at the time of the incident, gave a statement pointing to A.

C stated, "My daughter came out of the room and said, 'A beat me,' and immediately after that, she was found lying face down and naked in the bathroom, unable to speak."

Based on the testimony of the sole witness, an investigation was conducted, and A stood trial on charges of beating his cohabitant to death.

However, after reconstructing the events of the day of the incident minute by minute, the court concluded that the crime stated in the indictment was physically impossible.

A and B had a total of seven phone calls between 11:09 PM and 11:44 PM that night.

This contradicted C's statement that her daughter had collapsed and become unable to speak at around 10:17 PM.

Furthermore, records showed that A left the house at around 10:53 PM on the day of the incident and returned home at around 12:02 AM the next day.

Consequently, it was confirmed that all seven phone calls between A and B took place while A was outside the house.

A consistently stated, "I discovered B, who drank alcohol every day, collapsed in the bathroom the next morning, but I thought she was just hungover from heavy drinking."

The court explained, "The victim's mother, C, was diagnosed with unspecified Alzheimer's disease (dementia) in 2022 and lacks a clear sense of time."

It added, "Even assuming that C's testimony holds credibility, that testimony alone is not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant assaulted the victim."

The court also ruled, "The mere fact that the defendant's subsequent actions were suspicious, such as failing to report to 119 right away after discovering the fallen victim, is not sufficient to determine that an assault took place."

The court stated, "Since the facts charged in this case fall under a case where the facts of the crime have not been proven, we declare the defendant not guilty."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.