ULSAN — A woman in her 50s who beat her dementia-stricken mother in her 80s to death out of resentment over property transferred to her younger brother without her knowledge has received a heavy prison sentence.
The 12th Criminal Division of the Ulsan District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Young-je, said on the 1st that it had sentenced the woman, identified as A, to 14 years in prison. She had been indicted and detained on charges of killing a lineal ascendant.
A was brought to trial on charges of beating her mother, identified as B and in her 80s, to death in the bathroom of B's home in Ulsan's Nam-gu district on a night in mid-November last year.
Investigators found that A had been caring for her mother, who suffered from dementia, but had been in conflict with family members over the transfer of property. After B was diagnosed with dementia and underwent hip surgery, A began visiting frequently from January 2024 to care for her, and moved into her mother's home to live with her after her father died two months before the incident.
But resentment and dissatisfaction built up after A, the eldest daughter, belatedly learned that her parents had transferred a commercial building and an apartment to her younger brother without telling her. A had been quarreling with her siblings over the sale of the commercial building and, on the day of the incident, flew into a rage while intoxicated and committed the act, investigators found.
A denied the charges during the trial, saying her mother had difficulty walking and that she had repeatedly fallen while A was trying to lift her up after she slipped in the bathroom. The court rejected that account, citing bloodstains at the scene and an autopsy report.
"The victim had weak defensive capacity and ended her life in unfathomable pain and fear, unable to avoid or block the defendant's attack," the court said. "The defendant was uncooperative during the investigation and evaded responsibility in court as well."
The court added, however, that it had taken into account that she called emergency services immediately after the attack so the victim could be taken to a hospital, that the act appeared somewhat impulsive and committed while she was intoxicated, and that she had been caring for the victim, who suffered from dementia.
