A 35-year prison sentence has been finalized for a man in his 20s who murdered a taxi driver following an argument.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) finalized the lower court's ruling last month, which sentenced the defendant, identified as A (22), to 35 years in prison and ordered the attachment of a location-tracking electronic device for 20 years on charges of murder, attempted murder, and theft.

Defendant A was charged with murdering a taxi driver in his 60s, identified as B, by stabbing him with a weapon dozens of times on a road in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in the early hours of June 26 of last year.

The taxi driver had been driving according to the directions given by Defendant A, but after failing to find the destination and wandering around, the vehicle collided with an object. Following an argument, the driver told Defendant A, "I can no longer take you to your destination. Please pay the fare here," and got out of the driver's seat.

Investigations revealed that Defendant A flew into a rage, took out a weapon from a bag, and committed the crime.

Defendant A was also charged with attempted murder for climbing into the driver's seat and aggressively ramming two men who came to check the scene after hearing the taxi driver's screams and attempted to report it to the police, as well as theft for driving away in the taxi.

The first trial sentenced Defendant A to 35 years in prison and ordered the attachment of a location-tracking electronic device for 20 years.

Defendant A argued that he was in a state of diminished capacity due to conditions such as delusional disorder, but the first-instance court rejected the claim, stating, "Even if the defendant suffered from unspecified schizophrenia, it is difficult to see that it affected his ability to discern things or make decisions at the time of the crime."

However, regarding the death penalty demanded by the prosecution, the court explained, "Considering that the defendant's illness appears to have partially influenced the crime, and that he maintains minimal ties with his family, it cannot be concluded that circumstances justifying the death penalty have been clearly established."

Following the second trial, the Supreme Court also found no errors in this judgment and dismissed the appeal.

(Photo: Yonhap News)