Some pretty disgraceful things happening recently to the Korean community in Great Britain. Earlier this month, British prosecutors dropped a case against a white teenager accused of striking a Korean theology student in the head with a hammer, citing lack of evidence. This despite the fact that they had witness testimony and the victim’s friends used their cell phones to take pictures from the scene of the incident. English speakers can read the Chosun Ilbo piece, but the Korean literate are better off looking at the OhMyNews piece, which includes some of the photos taken. OK, I’m not a lawyer, but in this layman’s eyes, it appears something terribly wrong happened here.
To make matters worse, however, this followed a light 5-year sentence handed to another British man for manslaughter after he killed his Korean-born wife, dismembered her body into nine parts with a chain saw, stuffed the remains in a freezer and ran off to Japan. The OhMyNews piece mentions how the local media concentrated on making the killer look like the victim, and you know what — OhMy is right. Take a look at some of these pieces:
Man dismembered wife with a chainsaw to stop her ‘bullying’ (Times Online)
‘Freezer killing’ husband jailed (BBC)
‘Slave’ teacher who froze body parts is jailed (Mirror)
MY SLAVE HELL WITH FRIDGE GIRL (Mirror — nice fuckin’ headline)
But can you blame the press when the judge in the case says this during the sentencing:
Judge Mr Justice Gross told him: “I accept there was considerable provocation and no intention to kill. But this is a very serious horrific offence.”
The judge added: “You lashed out at your wife in the course of an argument. In my judgment, after no little taunting on her part.
“The blow was spontaneous and you did not have the intent to kill.
“I accept unreservedly that you had no intention to cause serious injury. You have no history of violence and you are not a risk to the public. The one aggravating feature was that you did not summon assistance and if you had have done your wife may have survived.”
One aggravating feature? I don’t know, perhaps it’s just me, but it would seem there were a number of aggravating features, namely, killing your wife, hacking up her body and then fleeing abroad to escape punishment.
28 Comments
My wife was harrassing me then attacked me so I killed her in self defense, sliced up her body and fled to Japan.
I don’t know about you but I have a hard time believing someone who was bold enough to cut up his own wife. I bet he killed her because she found out he was having an affair.
Like to add, what that Korean lad did was stupid. Why get into a confrontation, when he could have just walked away. I’ve also ran into these kinds of racial harassments myself many times before, but each time I walk away without looking back, and I’ve never had to get into a worthless fight. If I had got into a confrontation every time someone made disparaging comments about my race, I’d be black and blue from top to bottom.
Walk away, avoid trouble, it’s not worth it.
He actually got 2 years for killing her ?
But he got 3 years tacked on for butchering the body AFTER she was dead.
Now figure that one out.
If physical items (which, in this case, could possibly have DNA from the victim as well as assailant) do not constitute evidence, then what does?
It’s a very light sentence. I wonder why he was only charged with manslaughter and not murder. Was it a plea bargain or were the prosecutors worried that a murder charge might not stick?
Which video game was he playing before he killed her?
Murder requires intent. It seems clear from the judge’s statement that he thinks the guy accidentally killed his wife.
It seems that both these cases reflect a wussy British legal system more that prejudice.
despicable crimes and sentences (or lack thereof)
It’s the bloody British sense of humour. Either these blokes watched one too many episodes of the League of Gentlemen, or they spent too much time monging it with Swiss James.
“judge??s statement that he thinks the guy accidentally killed his wife.”
But the problem with the judge’s thinking is this:
The guy punched out his wife. If it was an accident, why did he leave her bleeding on the floor? A normal person would have called the emergency, not leave her to bleed to death.
Cheez, I thought the Korean legal system was poor *until* I read this report but I knew the British police had problems after some Brit cop executed the Brazilian fellow on the subway. I’ve wondered sometimes why more Koreans did feel inclined to take matters into their own hands and privately seek revenge against people like this. I know quite a few Americans would do so.
Assuming the guy did blow up in an argument and deck his wife causing the fatal injury than that would be manslaughter, even in the US. Leaving the body there on the floor AND THEN cutting it up would have gotten the guy in the looney bin I think-perhaps even off free with a temporary insanity plea and a good attorney. The reason for this is that there was no known leathal weapon used nor was there premeditation or planning (assuming his story is true). I think this guy got off way too easy but again, I can see how his wife may have planned the fight using the admission of an affair to get him mad enough to hit her and then using that as an excuse to file for divorce and keep legal residency there. Maybe she underestimated her husband’s strength and paid the price.
Put her in the freezer and went to Japan? Haha, what an idiot! 25 years!
when its a woman who lashes out after years of abuse it is battered woman syndrome, but when its a man, he is a murdering psychopath and should recieve life in prison….. since when do men have a monopoly on abuse?
by the way does anyone have some links to media reports of the hammer incident that aren’t korean? not that i want to question you colleagues in the korean media marmot
by the way does anyone have some links to media reports of the hammer incident that aren??t korean? not that i want to question you colleagues in the korean media marmot
Funny you should ask, because I didn’t see any after a very inexhaustive check of Google last night. Perhaps in some of the neighborhood papers, but I don’t believe any of the national dailies covered it. I could be wrong, of course.
well i guess when you think about it in perspective, it is really just a street fight betwwen two guys that resulted in an injury requiring 6 stitches. not exactly a major incident demanding national or international press coverage.
hmmmm, I wonder if we remove gender from the mix for a moment and focus on the evidence of battered spouse syndrome, would we there be so much collective hand wringing concerning the ‘light’ sentence?
I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but a few people have brought up the gender issue and suggested this would be dismissed if it were an allegedly battered wife instead of an allegedly battered husband.
But is that really true? This is not so outrageous just because the guy killed his wife and got a light sentence thanks to a post-morten “she was abusive to me” claim. The guy went and chopped her up into pieces, stuffed her in the freezer, and went off to another country.
That right there is an indication of something more sinister than the accident he described. And it would be equally true of a woman claiming to have been beaten by the husband she killed and chopped up into bits.
This reminds me of why, as it has been explained to me, hit-and-run is treated as seriously as drunk driving. If a drunk driver has the presence of mind to flee the scene of a crash, he or she can get off scot-free as far as the DUI is concerned. So a hit-and-run driver is, in some sense, presumed to have been drunk or doing something else quite serious, and is punished accordingly (if convicted).
In the same way, this guy going way out of his way to cover up the death, instead of reporting what he says was an accident, is a good sign that something may not be right with what he’s saying.
Like with a lot of Korean murderers who are quick to blame their victims for flaunting their wealth or asking for it in some other way, this guy’s claims that his wife was abusive to him — and controlled the finances! — smacks of engineered excuse-making.
I wonder if this theology student might have read something somewhere in his studies of the value of just letting things go and not getting too worked up if someone insults you. I read in Hangyoreh that Chon and his friends had chased ‘Jason’ to his house, and Jason had come out with a hammer and hit him over the head. Although I admire Chon for standing up to the chavs, I don’t think his case would stand in court, as chasing after some who insults you might lead some to regard the attack as self-defence.
Still, generally Koreans and foreigners have the right to be a little disastisfied at their position in British society. The British media had a pretty good time destroying the reputation of the murdered wife. If only she had been claiming social security benefits, they would have made the husband a hero.
Until the guy butchered his wife, the battered wife syndrome is very plausable. Cutting her up and freezing her and then departing for Japan indicates a little thought and planning. There is a Richard Wright (Black Boy?) story similar to this where a black guy accidentally kills a white woman and knows that he was borne guilty so he cuts her up and puts her in the furnace to burn with the hope she will disapear. He doesnt run away to Japan but in a similar fashion is caught and has a hard time explaining his accions satisfactorily.
The other guy got off easy if he was stupid enough to chase someone to their home with a group of friends.
The guy looks vaguely familiar, like I might have met him somewhere before. Did he work in Korea before?
Kushibo - It’s interesting to note though that the sentence imposed was consistent with other sentences for manslaughter. For example, a 22 year old male out on a “motorized pub crawl” (at least that’s how the local rag put it) was given 5 years in jail last week for striking and killing a young mother of one with his car while intoxicated. He fled the scene but was apprehended at his home later.
You suggest that the battered spouse defense was likely a rouse, yet the courts would demand considerable evidence from other sources to corroborate such a claim, meaning a least a couple of people beyond his family would have to come forward and support his claim.
I guess one point to be made is that this doesn’t appear to be manslaughter, so equating it with the sentence for vehicular manslaughter doesn’t quite fit, IMO. It also stinks of having been premeditated, which would point to it not being manslaughter either.
And if the guy on the motorized pub crawl had had the presence of mind to take the victim, saw her into nine pieces, stuff her into the Frigidaire, then take off to Japan, all the while having a financial stake in her demise, then I’d say the guy deserved more than five years in jail for all that. (I do think deaths caused while driving intoxicated should be treated more harshly).
And was he a battered spouse, or a hen-pecked husband (to use a favorite term of Korean students of English)? If you tell three buddies that your wife is a bitch, does that corroborate the claim that she is battering you?
Well, from what I’ve been able to ascertain, the women was not repeatedly bludgeoned, but seems to have been killed by one blow - blunt trauma. Now you may be right, this may have been pre-meditated, but one hit and escape suggests fight/flight. Indeed, he couldn’t have been sure she was dead after the one blow.
I haven’t been able to determine just what evidence exactly was brought before the court on his behalf, but people in the legal profession suggest his defense would have to consist of “substantial, unbiased” evidence of a history of abuse by her. This would seem to rule out his mates being the only corroborators of his story.
As for his disposal of the body, this was not considered evidence of pre-meditation as stuffing her in the fridge pretty well guaranteed she would be found quickly. If he wanted to dispose of her, the fridge in his home would not be a logical choice - the suggestion being that if he had planned this he would have dumped her body anywhere but in his house.
Finally, the most horrific aspect to most observers seems to be the way he hacked up the body - the guy has problems no doubt. But sawing a body up after death is not a capital offence in the UK (or the US or Korea for that matter). It’s usually defined as “defiling a corpse” or something like that, and is not considered a serious offense.
So while I take your point that you don’t think it was manslaughter, the evidence in the case suggests otherwise.
dscofie wrote:Well, from what I??ve been able to ascertain, the women was not repeatedly bludgeoned, but seems to have been killed by one blow - blunt trauma.That was a pretty powerful hit. Even if not premeditated, done with the intention to do severe damage.Now you may be right, this may have been pre-meditated, but one hit and escape suggests fight/flight.One hit, chopping up into nine pieces, and then escape. That’s an important step you missed.Indeed, he couldn??t have been sure she was dead after the one blow.So he was using an electric saw on someone he thought might still be alive?I haven??t been able to determine just what evidence exactly was brought before the court on his behalf, but people in the legal profession suggest his defense would have to consist of ??substantial, unbiased?? evidence of a history of abuse by her. This would seem to rule out his mates being the only corroborators of his story.I just don’t see the kind of emotional/verbal abuse he says she gave as a sign that any of this was extenuating circumstances. She was not the one hitting (right?), but he was.As for his disposal of the body, this was not considered evidence of pre-meditation as stuffing her in the fridge pretty well guaranteed she would be found quickly.Really? Stuff can be in the Fridgidaire for quite a while before it’s discovered. Certainly long enough for you to make it to Heathrow, disembark at Narita, and then end up in another country.If he wanted to dispose of her, the fridge in his home would not be a logical choice - the suggestion being that if he had planned this he would have dumped her body anywhere but in his house.You’re assuming that the guy is an evil genius, which he probably is not. Hiding her body and then leaving the country may be the best escape he could muster.
On the other hand, dumping her body somewhere else invites the possibility that someone would see him doing it and alert the police, while a body found chopped up in the freezer or fridge wouldn’t necessarily mean the hubby did it. Maybe a lot of people didn’t like her, or maybe he could convince the police a lot of people didn’t like her.Finally, the most horrific aspect to most observers seems to be the way he hacked up the body - the guy has problems no doubt.Ya think?But sawing a body up after death is not a capital offence in the UK (or the US or Korea for that matter).I wasn’t suggesting he get a needle in his arm, just that a lot longer than five years is justified.It??s usually defined as ??defiling a corpse?? or something like that, and is not considered a serious offense.As an offense itself, sure, but as part of a bigger picture, it probably points to some wider plan, even if poorly hatched. I know at my house that I don’t have anything to chop up a significant other.So while I take your point that you don??t think it was manslaughter, the evidence in the case suggests otherwise. Yeah, and OJ is innocent.
Ludicrous. Even though he may have killed her accidentally, the sawing and freezing deserve far more than 5 years. What kind of excuse could the guy possibly have for that?
As I say, this is just what I’ve been able to dig up. As for the sentence, I agree he probably should have recieved more, but his sentence is consistent with the charge of manslaughter. Of course if he did plan the attack then the charge was wrong and he should be locked up for 12 years or more. If this is the case he must be a damn good actor as he has managed to fool everyone involved, including the prosecution who entered the charge of manslaughter.
As an aside, I think sentences here for most offences are fair too lenient, but to be fair it should be mentioned that he will be doing the entire five years. Unlike in the Canadian system were sentences are longer but day parole is routinely given after only an eighth of the sentence has been served.
Oh, and as for the Korean guy who followed/chased the chav back to his house, he is lucky he got of so easily. I don’t know exactly where it happened but he’s taking his life in his hands chasing some local tough onto an estate - it would be a bit like a foreigner chasing a Korean gangster into a room salon…best to just let it go.