Daegu court gives man, 28, 25 years for killing upstairs neighbour over noise dispute
In short
Daegu District Court on 21 October sentenced a 28-year-old man to 25 years in prison for stabbing an upstairs neighbour in his 50s dozens of times in an apartment elevator on 9 May. The sentence in a jury trial was five years above the 20 years prosecutors sought. Five of seven jurors favoured 30 years and two favoured 25.
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Daegu District Court Criminal Division 11, led by presiding judge Lee Yeong-cheol (이영철), sentenced a man identified as A, 28, to 25 years in prison on 21 October. He had been indicted on a murder charge for killing an upstairs neighbour in an apartment elevator. Yonhap and Seoul Shinmun said the court accepted the jury's opinion. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
The case was tried by a citizen-participation jury over two days, starting the previous day, according to Yonhap and Maeil Business. Of seven jurors, five recommended 30 years and the other two recommended 25. Prosecutors had sought 20 years. Dong-A Ilbo said prosecutors described the crime as planned and cruel and said the defendant showed no remorse. The sentence was five years above the request. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
A is accused of stabbing the victim, B, a man in his 50s who lived upstairs, dozens of times in an apartment elevator in Pyeongni-dong, Seo District, Daegu, on 9 May. Dong-A Ilbo gave the time as about 10:40. A moved into the apartment in 2023 and had been in a noise dispute with B's family for years. He said he spent 12.7 million won on a soundproof booth in his room and wore headphones, but still felt noise and vibration. Last year the two sides argued over the noise by the building's intercom, and police came and mediated. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
On the day, A was woken by noise while sleeping, suspected B's family of making it on purpose, and left home carrying a weapon, the outlets said. When he met B in the elevator, he swung it dozens of times. CCTV footage showed him then harming himself before stabbing B in the neck once more. A said he thought the noise was made to torment him and that he stabbed B's neck again because the victim was in pain and making sounds. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
B's daughter told the court the family wore slippers and laid noise-reducing mats, and did not make noise deliberately to harass anyone. She asked for a severe sentence. A's lawyers played video of the noise and argued he had suffered mental distress for years because of B's family. The court noted that noise from the building's internal pipes had been a problem and that a notice about it had been posted in the elevator, and said it was hard to conclude that all the noise A claimed came from B. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
The defence also said A had mental problems that led to the crime, but a specialist evaluation found no abnormality. Dong-A Ilbo added that the court found the medical evidence insufficient to treat his belief as psychotic-level delusion. The court said A himself was not sure the noise came from B's family. It said stabbing the neck, lungs and organs dozens of times and showing no remorse were aggravating factors. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
Why it matters
The ruling shows a court and jury treating an inter-floor noise dispute as no excuse for a killing and counting a lack of remorse against the defendant. The documents give no wider policy consequences.
Key facts
- Daegu District Court Criminal Division 11 sentenced the defendant, identified as A, 28, to 25 years in prison on 21 October after a citizen-participation (jury) trial on a murder charge. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Prosecutors had sought 20 years; the sentence was five years longer. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Of seven jurors, five recommended 30 years and the other two recommended 25 years. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- A is accused of stabbing the victim, B, a man in his 50s who lived upstairs, dozens of times in an apartment elevator in Pyeongni-dong, Seo District, Daegu, on 9 May. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- A had been in a noise dispute with B's family since moving into the apartment in 2023, and police were called to mediate last year. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- The court said it was hard to conclude that all the noise A complained of came from B, and a specialist psychiatric evaluation found no abnormality in A. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- A was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 21 October for killing his upstairs neighbour in an elevator, after a jury trial at Daegu District Court. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Five of seven jurors recommended 30 years and two recommended 25 years. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Prosecutors sought 20 years. [ 3 , 4 ]
- The court said A himself was not sure the noise had been caused by B's family and that stabbing the victim's neck, lungs and organs dozens of times and showing no remorse were aggravating factors. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- A specialist psychiatric evaluation found no abnormality, despite the defence's claim that A had mental problems. [ 1 , 3 , 5 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the noise A complained of actually came from the victim's household. The court said it could not conclude that all of it came from B; A's side said it did, and B's daughter said the family took care to avoid making noise.
- The time of the attack and the pressure tank replacement at the apartment. Only Dong-A Ilbo gives the time (about 10:40) and reports, as what is 'known', that a pressure tank was replaced to address noise and vibration.
- Dong-A Ilbo's account that A's family told the court he was sensitive to sound and that he was bothered by neighbours at a previous home. Reported by one outlet as 'reportedly' stated, without direct attribution to the court record.