"To steal 40,000 won"...Robber killer caught for the first time in 16 years '30 years in prison'

ⓒYonhap News Agency

He went into hiding after killing a supermarket owner 16 years ago.A man in his 40s who was caught by the police for the first time in 16 years was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The 2nd Criminal Division (Chief Judge Park Ji-young) of the Suwon District Court sentenced A to 30 years in prison on charges of robbery and murder on the 29th.

Earlier on December 9, 2008, A was charged with breaking into a supermarket in Jeongwang-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, killing his owner B (then in his 40s) with a weapon, and then running away with money and valuables.

At that time, the crime scene was captured on CCTV footage in the store, but it remained a long-term unsolved due to limitations in identifying the suspect.

The Siheung Police Station's team in charge of violent unpublished cases, which has been formed since 2017, has re-investigated, but has not produced much results.

Then, the police received a decisive report on the suspect in this case in February and arrested him in the area of Haman-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, where A lives, on July 14.

A, who usually enjoys fishing, entered B's store with a weapon in his fishing bag and a mask at the time of the crime.

Mr. A, who tried to steal the cashier's safe at the supermarket, threatened to "stay still because I'll only take the money" when Mr. B woke up.

However, when B resisted, A killed B by wielding a weapon and stole KRW 30,000 to 40,000 in cash from the safe and ran away.

As for the motive of the crime, A stated, "I did it to pay for living while staying at a friend's house without a certain job."

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team