Supreme Court confirms 40-year sentence for man in stalking murder case

Kim Byung-chan, a 35-year-old stalking murder suspect, is taken by police officers at Namdaemun Police Station to prosecutors in Seoul over allegations he killed his ex-girlfriend with a knife at her studio apartment in central Seoul last week in this Nov. 29, 2021 file photo. Yonhap

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 40-year prison sentence for a 37-year-old man convicted of stalking and brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2021 after the couple broke up.

Kim Byung-chan stabbed his ex-girlfriend in her 30s multiple times at her studio apartment in central Seoul in November 2021. He had stalked her since their breakup in the second half of 2020.

At the time of her death, the victim was under police protection after filing four complaints against Kim. A restraining order against him was also in place.

A district court handed Kim a 35-year prison term, but the Seoul High Court increased his sentence by five years, saying the defendant was not seriously remorseful. (Yonhap)