Man in his 70s kills sleeping patient at long-term care hospital with fire extinguisher... “I killed him first because I was afraid he might kill me”

[Financial News] A man in his 70s killed a sleeping patient in his 60s by striking him with a fire extinguisher at a long-term care hospital in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. The victim’s family has raised concerns about the hospital’s initial response.

JTBC’s Scandal Supervisor, which aired on the 27th, featured the story of Ms. A, who said she lost her father less than a month after he was admitted to a long-term care hospital.
After the hospital her father had been attending closed, he was transferred last July to a long-term care hospital in Buk-gu, Pohang. He had been suffering from mild dementia.
The incident occurred on August 2 at around 11 a.m. A man in his 70s, identified as Mr. B, struck Ms. A’s father, who was asleep in his hospital room, five or six times with a fire extinguisher measuring 44 centimeters long and weighing 5 kilograms.
Her father was taken to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery, but his condition was critical, so the operation was ended early. He was moved to the intensive care unit and died the following day.
Ms. A, who rushed to the hospital after hearing that her father had been injured, said she was not initially told exactly what had happened.
She said, “I asked how badly he had been hurt that he needed surgery, but they didn’t say anything,” adding, “I only learned he had been hit with a fire extinguisher after the police called my mother.”
She continued, “The moment I saw my father in the intensive care unit, I collapsed. It was so horrific; he didn’t look like the father I knew,” recounting what happened.

According to the family, when the long-term care hospital first contacted them, it said the victim had been injured in a fall after arguing with another patient.
The motive for the crime was also shocking. Ms. A said, “The perpetrator stated in the indictment that he felt threatened by my father, who was a large man, and killed him first because he feared being killed.”
B reportedly argued during the trial that he had not intended to kill, citing his long stay at the hospital.
However, the court ruled that B’s repeated blows to the victim’s head with a fire extinguisher showed intent to kill. It also rejected arguments related to mental incapacity, citing, among other things, B’s detailed recollection of the circumstances of the crime and what happened at the time.
The court therefore sentenced B to 15 years in prison for murder. B appealed, and prosecutors are also reportedly planning to appeal, arguing that the sentence was too lenient.
The family also alleged problems with the hospital’s supervision and emergency response. Ms. A said there were no medical staff, including nurses, on the floor at the time of the incident, and that about 30 minutes passed between her father being found bleeding and his transfer by ambulance.
The family has filed a claim for damages, saying the hospital’s inadequate response caused her father to miss the appropriate window for treatment.
The hospital, by contrast, countered that it checked the patient’s condition and provided necessary emergency care as soon as it became aware of the incident.
[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter