The Supreme Court has ruled that an 81-year-old shaman, who caused the death of his nephew by exposing him to the heat of charcoal during a ritual to exorcise evil spirits, should be charged with murder. This decision overturns a previous ruling that had reduced his sentence to seven years, citing a lack of intent to kill.
On October 14, Yonhap News reported that the Supreme Court's third division, led by Justice Eom Sang-pil, annulled the lower court's seven-year sentence for the shaman, identified as Shim, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.
The Supreme Court determined that Shim had recognized the potential for the victim's death but continued with the dangerous ritual, thus acknowledging reckless intent to kill. The court stated that the mere intention to exorcise evil spirits does not negate the intent to kill.
Shim was charged after he and six accomplices bound his nephew, identified as A, at a restaurant in Bupyeong, Incheon, on September 18, 2024. They subjected A to three hours of intense heat from burning charcoal. When A expressed a desire to leave the restaurant and return to Ulleungdo, where his parents lived, Shim claimed that an evil spirit was trying to kill A's mother and proceeded with the ritual.
The group restrained A face down on a metal structure and continuously added burning charcoal to a basin beneath him. Despite A losing consciousness multiple times, the ritual continued. It was only two hours after A lost consciousness completely that they called emergency services, falsely claiming he had fallen onto the charcoal. A died two days later on September 20 from multiple organ failure due to burns.
Initially, police charged Shim and his accomplices with involuntary manslaughter, but prosecutors later upgraded the charges to murder after further investigation.
The first trial recognized Shim's murder charge and sentenced him to life in prison. The six accomplices were also charged with murder or aiding and abetting murder, receiving sentences ranging from 10 to 25 years.
However, the second trial found insufficient evidence to conclude that the defendants had realistically accepted the possibility of death, despite acknowledging that they could foresee it. The court noted that the incident was recorded on CCTV and that they had eventually performed CPR and called for help, which made it difficult to classify the act as premeditated murder. Consequently, the charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter, and Shim's sentence was lowered to seven years. The accomplices received suspended sentences for their roles.
The Supreme Court found errors in the second trial's judgment, stating that the ritual was excessively cruel and dangerous, even for a shaman with 40 years of experience like Shim, who had never attempted such a method before. The court highlighted the lack of any minimal safety measures for the victim.
The Supreme Court concluded that the intent to exorcise evil spirits and the awareness that the ritual could lead to the victim's death could coexist. Even if they believed in the efficacy of the ritual, recognizing the risk of death negated any claim of lack of intent to kill.
The court also noted that there was a tacit agreement among the accomplices. Particularly, A's brother and cousin were found to have facilitated the crime by failing to intervene or provide assistance despite knowing the ritual's dangers, leading to their recognition of complicity in the murder.
As a result, Shim and his accomplices will face a retrial at the Seoul High Court, where specific sentences will be determined.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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