A man in his 20s sentenced to 30 years in prison in the first trial for murdering an innocent victim while under the delusion that his family had suffered sexual violence argued during his appeal that he "did not plan to kill from the beginning."

During the first appeal hearing held today (the 9th) by the 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court Chuncheon Branch (Presiding Judge Lee Eun-hye) for charges including murder, special residential intrusion, special assault, and special confinement, the defendant, A (27), admitted to the act of murder itself but argued, "The purpose was to punish the victim before the statute of limitations for the crime (of sexually assaulting my family) expired, and there was no fact that I intended to kill him in a planned manner."

He then claimed, "The sentence of the lower court is too heavy and unfair."

Meanwhile, the prosecution argued, "The 30-year prison sentence handed down by the lower court is too light," and requested two bereaved family members of the victim as witnesses.

The court accepted the prosecution's request for witnesses, but decided to question only one of the two at the trial scheduled for November 11.

According to the indictment, Defendant A murdered B (45) at an apartment in Wonju at 6:39 PM on January 16.

Defendant A visited B's home while B had not yet returned, beat, threatened, and confined B's 71-year-old mother, C, and then wielded a weapon found inside the house against B upon his return, committing the murder.

Investigations revealed that while serving a 5-year prison sentence for a sex offense, Defendant A fell under the delusion that B had sexually assaulted A's family, and resolved to kill B after being released from prison.

Defendant A even used a private detective agency to find the victim's home and broke into the victim's house by posing as a courier delivering fruit.

After assaulting C, inflicting injuries requiring about 5 weeks of medical treatment, and confining her for about 2 hours, Defendant A waited for B to arrive and committed the crime.

Even after hearing from his mother and younger sibling that "there was no truth to the sexual assault," Defendant A fell under the delusion that B had sexually assaulted the two about 20 years ago, and even filed a complaint against B for a sex offense and reported it to the media.

The first trial stated, "Although the defendant claims there is attributed fault on the part of the victim, there is no data to acknowledge this, yet he continuously repeats his claims, defaming the deceased's honor and causing severe psychological damage to the bereaved family," sentencing him to 30 years in prison and 20 years of wearing a location-tracking electronic device (electronic anklet).

(Photo: Yonhap News)