“They made inter-floor noise to harass me” ... Man in his 20s sentenced to 25 years for brutally killing upstairs neighbor with a weapon

[Financial News] A man in his 20s who was detained and indicted on charges of stabbing to death with a weapon an upstairs resident of his apartment building, with whom he had been in conflict for years over inter-floor noise, and referred to a citizen-participation trial was sentenced to a harsher prison term than prosecutors had sought.
According to legal sources, the 11th Criminal Division of the Daegu District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Young-cheol, accepted the jury’s recommendation at the citizen-participation trial of A (28), who was tried on a murder charge, and sentenced him to 25 years in prison on the 21st. Five of the seven jurors recommended a 30-year sentence, while the others recommended 25 years.
A is accused of stabbing resident B, who lived upstairs and was in their 50s, dozens of times with a weapon and killing them inside an apartment elevator in Pyeongni-dong, Seo-gu, on May 9.
According to investigators and other sources, A had been in conflict with B’s family for years over inter-floor noise after moving into the apartment in 2023.
A claimed that he continued to hear noise and feel vibrations even though he had spent 12.7 million won to install a soundproof booth in his room to block out inter-floor noise and lived wearing headphones.
Investigators found that last year, A and B’s family argued over inter-floor noise during a conversation on the apartment’s intercom, prompting police to respond once and mediate between the two sides.
Last May, on the day of the incident, A woke up at home to inter-floor noise, suspected it had come from B’s side, took a weapon with him, and carried out the attack after catching the elevator as it came down.
CCTV footage from the time showed A swing the weapon dozens of times as soon as he encountered B in the elevator, then injure himself before stabbing the victim in the neck once more.
A testified about what happened, saying, “I thought they were making inter-floor noise on purpose to harass me,” and, “The victim was making sounds and seemed to be in pain, so I stabbed them in the neck one more time at the end.”
B’s daughter told the court, “I always took great care, wearing slippers and installing noise-reducing mats,” and, “I did not deliberately make noise to bother anyone,” and called for a harsh sentence.
During the trial, which began the previous day and lasted two days, A’s lawyers played a video recording of the inter-floor noise and claimed that the defendant had suffered mental anguish for years because of B’s family.
However, noting that noise from the apartment’s internal pipes had been an issue and that notices about it had been posted in the elevator, the court found that “it is difficult to conclude that all of the inter-floor noise claimed by A’s side was caused by B.”
A’s lawyers also claimed that the defendant committed the crime because he had been experiencing mental health problems, but a psychiatric evaluation by specialists found no abnormalities.
Prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence, citing the planned and brutal nature of the crime. The jury recommended a sentence of 25 to 30 years, taking into account that A shifted responsibility onto B’s family and showed no remorse, among other factors.
The court explained its sentencing decision, saying, “A himself was not sure whether the inter-floor noise had been caused by B’s family,” and, “The fact that he stabbed the victim dozens of times in the neck, lungs and other organs, and showed no remorse, are aggravating factors.”
[email protected] An Ga-eul Reporter