A 61-year-old woman who plotted a yearlong revenge plan on her ex-husband had her sentence upheld by an appellate court, officials said Sunday.
The Changwon Division of the Busan High Court upheld the 17-year prison term sentenced against the defendant for murder by a lower court, saying the punishment is within the reason. The defendant appealed the ruling by saying that the punishment was too harsh.
The initial ruling had considered that the defendant was in poor mental and physical health, while taking into account that she had not been forgiven by members of her family and that she committed the crime while on probation for illegal drug trafficking.
The defendant strangled to death her ex-husband, who was 60 at the time, at the victim's farm in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. The two ended their 10-year marriage in 2003 after the defendant accused the deceased of having an affair.
While staying in touch over family matters, the defendant found out the victim was still in contact with a woman that he had affair with. A subsequent fight led to the victim tying the defendant to an excavator for an hour.
The incident left the defendant humiliated and vengeful, and motivated her to plan revenge on her ex-husband. She built up her strength by regularly going to a gym for a year, according to local reports, and had left a message to her acquaintance saying, "I'll end it now. I have to pay (him) back for the humiliation I received."
She went to the ex-husband's farm and tied him up, ultimately strangling him to death.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
