South Korea. Woman convicted of father's murder acquitted. She spent most of her life in prison

By the decision of the district court in Gwangju in the south of the country, Kim Shin Hye was acquitted of the charge of murdering her father, for which she was sentenced to life imprisonment 25 years ago. The judge exonerating her justified his decision by the lack of a clear motive and evidence linking the woman to the crime. The court also drew attention to the fact that Kim withdrew her incriminating testimony, reports “The Korea Herald”.

As the daily indicates, the woman initially pleaded guilty, but later withdrew. The Korean woman later explained this behavior as a desire to protect her brother, whose conviction she was afraid of. According to the court, “it is possible that Kim falsely confessed to the murder for various reasons.”

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Kim was found guilty of murder in August 2000. A few months later, the Korean woman was sentenced to life imprisonment. The main point of her accusation was the woman's testimony in which she admitted to committing murder. The court convicted her even though Kim recanted her testimony shortly thereafter, and its content was not confirmed by the autopsy of the deceased. No traces of excessive amounts of sleeping pills, which the Korean woman had previously claimed to have used to kill the man, were found in Kim's father's body. Remains of these substances were not found on any of the items the woman allegedly used during the murder, reports “The Korea Herald”.

According to the results of the man's autopsy, excessive alcohol consumption may have contributed to the Korean's death. Its content in the blood of the deceased reached as much as 3.03 per mille, the newspaper adds. He also points out that years later, the court found the woman's alleged motive for committing the murder impossible to confirm. This, according to Kim's original testimony, was her father's sexual abuse. After some time, the Korean woman denied that it had happened and said that she had lied about it at the instigation of a relative who was supposed to convince her that it would help her shorten her sentence.

A lawyer representing Kim expressed hope that the acquittal would be a “turning point” for her and help her “get her life back.” The Korean woman herself referred to Monday's court decision, saying that while in prison she often wondered why it “takes so long” to obtain a fair verdict. – It could have been fixed earlier. But it took 25 years, said Kim Shin Hye, who spent most of her life in prison.

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