Sindang Station murderer sentenced to life in prison

The Seoul High Court sentenced Jeon Joo-hwan, the 32-year-old man accused of stalking and murdering a coworker at Sindang Station last year, to life imprisonment Tuesday.

Jeon Joo-hwan, who is charged with murdering a former coworker at Sindang Station last year, stands before the press at Seoul Namdaemun Police Station as he is transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Sept. 21, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The Seoul High Court sentenced Jeon Joo-hwan, the 32-year-old man accused of stalking and murdering a coworker at Sindang Station last year, to life imprisonment Tuesday.

Jeon, a former Seoul Metro employee, was charged with crimes including stalking, revenge murder, illegal recording and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

A lower court previously sentenced Jeon to 40 years in prison in February this year.

On Sept. 14, 2022, Jeon killed a 28-year-old woman, a former colleague who had been on patrol, by stabbing her to death at a public restroom in Sindang Station on Seoul Metro's Line No. 2 during the evening rush hour.

Jeon first met the victim while working for Seoul Metro and has been accused of illegally filming, harassing and blackmailing her for three years. He was later fired from his job in 2021.

He was charged with 351 accounts of stalking the victim, including sending threatening messages to the victim in early October 2021, about a year before the murder.

The murder took place just one day before a court was set to rule on the stalking charges.

Before killing his victim, Jeon trespassed in a building where the victim had previously lived four times, before learning she had moved.

The Seoul High Court said in its ruling Tuesday that "a crime of retaliation" runs counter to the criminal justice system and "requires strict punishment."

The judge said on the same day, "The crime of retaliation is a crime that neutralizes the criminal justice system and requires strict punishment."

Jeon was also ordered to wear an electronic tracking device for 15 years and complete 40 hours each of sexual assault and stalking treatment programs.

"The murder was very much planned, meticulous and tenacious," the judge said. "The victim died in indescribable horror and terrible physical pain."

In a separate trial, Jeon was sentenced to nine years in prison for stalking charges in 2021.

The latest ruling combined this case with the revenge murder charges sentencing him to 40 years last year.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]