Convicted Murderer Acquitted After 36 Years

A 74-year-old felon who served 15 years of a life sentence in prison for raping and killing an 11-year-old girl in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, in 1972 was acquitted of the crime yesterday.

Identified only as “Jeong,” the man was cleared by the Chuncheon District Court yesterday.

His murder conviction forced him to live with the label of criminal for 36 years, and his story was first reported by The Dong-A Ilbo in 2001.

After being released on parole in 1987 for good behavior, he asked for help from two attorneys to seek a retrial in 1995. This is because Jeong’s public defender had told him to pursue a retrial and handed over documents on the case.

After receiving information from Jeong and his legal counsel in 2001, the newspaper scoured the country looking for witnesses and investigators in the case and carried in-depth reports 10 times, starting in March 22 the same year.

This effort led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to order a retrial and finally resulted in his acquittal.

bell@donga.com