Man gets 16 years for murdering women who owed him money

A man in his 70s received a 16 year jail term on Thursday for strangling a women who owed him money.

The Chuncheon District Court said the 72-year-old man, surnamed Kim, was charged with homicide for impulsively killing the 51-year-old victim out of fear that she would not return his money.

Kim worked as a gas station worker for 13 years and saved 20 million won ($18,000) which he lent to the victim in March to expand her restaurant. 

(Yonhap)

Kim worked with the victim until she reportedly quit her job at the gas station in 2015 to open a restaurant.

Their friendship became tense after the victim was apparently unable to repay Kim. Instead she offered to sell “her stocks.” However, Kim knew these stocks were non-existent and murdered her in the middle of an argument at a hotel room in Chuncheon city, on May 18 at around 10:00 a.m.

Kim was caught on his third day of hiding by the police at an intercity bus terminal in South Jeolla Province.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)