A Chinese woman who is accused of fatally stabbing a Chinese man in his thirties with a knife in a hotel room at Jeju Dream Tower, South Korea, in February this year may face life imprisonment if she gets convicted. The Jeju District Prosecutor’s Office is requesting the maximum sentence in this case. The initial trial verdict is set for September 4.
According to South Korean media reports, the woman had accumulated massive debts after losing at the Jeju casino and had used her passport as collateral, which prevented her from leaving the visa-free zone of Jeju. To raise funds to repay her debts, the suspect planned to obtain cash through extortion and theft, recruiting a couple in China to help handle the stolen money and chips.
On the day of the crime, the suspect contacted the victim at 9:38 AM, fabricating a story about exchanging 1 million yuan and inviting him to the hotel room for the transaction. After the victim entered the room at 2:22 PM, the suspect stabbed him 12 times with a concealed knife, resulting in his death. After the attack, she stole 85 million won (approximately 480,000 HKD) in cash and chips from the victim.
At around 5 PM that afternoon, the suspect voluntarily surrendered to the police. During the trial, the suspect’s defense lawyer admitted that she committed murder but argued it was a crime of passion rather than a premeditated robbery, claiming she only took the items after the victim’s death.
The verdict for the case is set to be announced on September 4.
