Prosecutors have asked a court to sentence a woman in her 20s to 20 years in prison for killing her grandfather, who was in his 80s, at an apartment in Seoul's Dongdaemun District.
Prosecutors made the request on the 15th at the final hearing for Noh, 24, who is charged with murdering a lineal ascendant. The hearing was held before the 11th criminal division of the Seoul Northern District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Choi Kyung-seo.
Noh's lawyers asked the court to treat the case as bodily injury resulting in death rather than murder, arguing the killing stemmed from long-running family conflict. Her attorney said she had been exposed to continuous verbal abuse and physical violence from her grandfather after moving back in with her grandparents. She had tried to repair the relationship, the attorney said, but the verbal abuse resumed and she made a wrong choice in a moment.
In her final statement, Noh said her grandfather had caused her pain but that she had never intended for him to die. She said she had wanted to signal that he should stop, and that this led to a misguided decision. She added that she would live in atonement toward her late grandfather and her family, and that she would seek atonement until her death.
Noh is accused of stabbing her grandfather to death with a knife at their home in Dapsimni-dong, Dongdaemun District, in May this year. Dongdaemun Police Station arrested her on the 20th of that month, citing concerns she might flee or destroy evidence, and referred the case to prosecutors a week later. The verdict is scheduled for Oct. 23.
