The death penalty for the man who murdered the whole family of his compatriots in Korea to rob his property

On March 28, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City opened a first-instance trial of Lee Hyeongwon (32 years old, Korean nationality) for the crimes of “Murder”, “Robbery”, “Theft”. Lee Hyeongwon is a murderer of a compatriot family in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City to rob property.

According to the prosecution, Lee Hyeongwon entered Vietnam many times. The last time was on October 30, 2019 and worked at a karaoke restaurant on Nguyen Bieu Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.

Around 9 am on December 20, 2019, Lee Hyeongwon went to Phu My Hung residential area, District 7 to distribute flyers introducing the karaoke restaurant where Lee Hyeongwon worked.

Defendant Lee Hyeongwon in court

Around 2pm on the same day, when he entered Hung Phuoc 1 internal park (Tan Phong ward, district 7) to rest, he had the intention of breaking into houses in the area to rob.

After that, Lee Hyeongwon went around to observe and discovered that on the side of house No. 5 of Mr. and Mrs. Yoon Sang Yong and Mrs. Jung Young Sook (Korean nationality) was an empty lot with high walls that could be climbed. to the first floor window.

Around 0:00 on December 21, 2019, Lee Hyeongwon broke into the house and went to the kitchen on the 4th floor to put on gloves and then took a knife to go downstairs.

When Lee Hyeongwon went to the 3rd floor, she was discovered by Mrs. Jung Young Sook. Lee Hyeongwon immediately stabbed her in the neck with a knife and controlled her to bring her into the room. Hearing the cry, Mr. Yoon Sang Yong woke up, struggled with Lee Hyeongwon, and was stabbed several times in the body.

Hearing the noise, the landlord’s daughter, Yoon Jeong Yi, who was sleeping in the next room, rushed out when Lee Hyeongwon ran over and stabbed her in the stomach with a knife. Yoon Jeong Yi panicked and ran away when he was controlled and brought into the room to collect money.

To save his life, Mr. Yoon Sang Yong took a branded leather bag with 5 million dong inside, phones, house keys, and cars gave it to Lee Hyeongwon and asked for his life.

Still not stopping, Lee Hyeongwon also went to Yoo Seonjun’s room (son of Yoon Sang Yong) to get another phone and then left.

When going out, the robber had an intention to take the victim’s car, so he took the key to control the car out of the house.

Lee Hyeongwon threw 5 cell phones and a knife into the river to dispose of it.

On the way, thinking that he couldn’t sell the car, Lee Hyeongwon drove to Lan Anh residential area in District 2, using a lighter to light the rubber mat behind the seat to burn the vehicle to destroy evidence.

After that, Lee Hyeongwon went to his room to steal $2,000 from his roommate.

As for the victims, due to their injuries, Mrs. Jung Young Sook died soon after, while Mr. Yoon Sang Yong and sister Yoon Jeong Yi escaped death.

On December 25, 2019, Lee Hyeongwon was arrested.

At the trial, the defendant confessed all of the crimes as charged by the indictment. Regarding the motive for the crime, Lee Hyeongwon said that due to economic difficulties, when he saw his compatriot’s family seemed rich, he had an intention to steal property. When he was discovered, he was afraid of being caught, so he attacked the victims.

Considering that the defendant’s behavior is particularly dangerous to society, has directly infringed upon the lives of others, adversely affecting social order, a severe sentence is required as a deterrent, general prevention.

Therefore, after deliberation, the jury sentenced defendant Lee Hyeongwon to death for “Murder”, 14 years in prison for “Robbery”, and 2 years in prison for “Theft”. The combined punishment for all three crimes is the death penalty.

Thanh Phuong