"Thought He Was Watching Me"... Man in His 20s Attacks Stranger Neighbor with Weapon Due to Delusions

"Tried to Kill the Victim with a Machete He Usually Carried"

A man in his 20s who attacked an apartment resident he did not know with a weapon, due to delusions that he was being watched, has been sentenced to prison.

According to Yonhap News on April 10, the 11th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court (chief judge Song Byunghoon) sentenced Mr. A (age 27), who was indicted on charges of attempted murder, to four years in prison and ordered him to undergo treatment and custody.

The court stated, "The defendant became delusional, believing that the victim and other people in the neighborhood were monitoring him, and attempted to kill the victim with a machete he usually carried around, but failed. In light of the motive and method, the nature of the crime is very serious." However, the court added, "It is favorable to the defendant that he committed the crime while in a state of diminished capacity due to conditions such as schizophrenia, and that his condition is expected to improve with appropriate treatment in the future."

The incident occurred at around 10:45 a.m. on December 27 last year in the underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Mr. A approached Mr. B, a resident in his 40s who was parking his car, and stared at him. When Mr. B asked, "Why do you keep looking at me?" Mr. A stabbed Mr. B twice forcefully in the side with a machete he was carrying. It was determined that the two had never met before.

After Mr. B ran away, Mr. A chased him with the weapon to the ramp of the underground parking lot. However, he stopped the pursuit when other cars entered. During the investigation, Mr. A stated, "I committed the crime because I became enraged, thinking that Mr. B was watching me from his car and provoking me."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.