South Korean court convicts 23-year-old man in car-and-stabbing attack that killed 2
ABC News
A South Korean judge has convicted a man of murder for an unprovoked car-and-stabbing rampage that killed two people and injured 12 others in a city near Seoul last year
SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean judge convicted a man of murder Thursday for an unprovoked car-and-stabbing rampage that killed two people and injured 12 others in a city near Seoul last year.
Prosecutors had sought a death penalty for 23-year-old Choi Won-jong, who was arrested in August after he rammed his car into pedestrians in a bustling leisure district in Seongnam and then stepped out of the crashed vehicle and stabbed people at random at a nearby shopping mall. Two of the five people who were hit by the car died of their injuries, while nine others were treated for stab wounds.
Judge Kang Hyun-koo of the Suwon District Court’s Seongnam branch gave Choi a life prison sentence, rejecting defense lawyers’ appeal for leniency based on the defendant's supposed mental health problems. The court also ordered Choi to wear an electronic tracking device for 30 years,
The judge said Choi’s crime “created fear that anyone could become a target of a terror attack in a public place” and found him guilty on charges of murder, attempted murder, and premediated murder.
Choi has seven days to appeal.
