“For nightlife expenses” ... Man in his 20s sent to trial for killing a man in his 70s he had never met in Gangbuk District

[Financial News] A man in his 20s accused of killing a man in his 70s he had never met and stealing valuables in Seoul’s Gangbuk District has been sent to trial while in custody. The Prosecution Office believes he committed the crime to raise money for nightlife expenses.
Legal sources said on the 30th that the Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul Northern District Prosecution Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Kim Garam, indicted Oh, 27, that day while he was in custody on charges including robbery-murder.
Oh is accused of breaking into a house in Beon-dong, Gangbuk District, Seoul, on the 3rd, killing a man in his 70s identified as A and stealing valuables.
The Prosecution Office said Oh planned the crime to obtain several million won to spend on nightlife. Investigators found that Oh followed A, who was drunk and on his way home, into A’s residence, then stabbed the neck of A, a complete stranger to him, several times with a weapon and strangled him with a belt.
Immediately after the crime, Oh left the scene with A’s cellphone, credit card and gold ring. He is believed to have later used the stolen credit card to pay several million won in nightlife expenses.
Police received a report on the 4th from an acquaintance who could not reach A and found him dead at his home at around 7 p.m. that day. After analyzing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and other evidence, police identified Oh as a suspect and arrested him at around 1 a.m. the following day, the 5th.
Oh reportedly told police during questioning that he had never met A and said, “I went to confront him over a shoulder bump on the street, then committed the crime impulsively.” However, police analysis of CCTV footage showing A’s route home found no footage of him bumping shoulders with anyone else.
Police initially took Oh into custody on suspicion of murder, but after further investigation concluded that he had intended to steal valuables and charged him with robbery-murder. They transferred him in custody to the Seoul Northern District Prosecution Office on the 14th. Under the Criminal Act, robbery-murder is punishable by death or life imprisonment. The penalty is harsher than that for ordinary murder, which carries the death penalty, life imprisonment, or a prison term of at least five years.
The Prosecution Office requested that police conduct a further investigation, including reviewing Oh’s account transactions and questioning key witnesses. This confirmed that Oh was in financial difficulty, needed quick cash to pay for nightlife expenses, and committed the crime with the intent to steal valuables.
A spokesperson for the Seoul Northern District Prosecution Office said, “We will seek financial assistance for the victim’s bereaved family while doing our utmost to pursue the case so that the defendant receives a sentence commensurate with his crime.”
[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter