Killer convicted of murdering 10 women appeals death sentence

ANSAN, South Korea, April 23 (Yonhap) -- A serial killer who was sentenced to
death for murdering 10 women filed an appeal against the ruling, court officials
said Thursday.
On Wednesday, Kang Ho-sun, 38, was found guilty and was given the death penalty
for kidnapping and killing eight women in rural areas south of Seoul and in a
remote province between September 2006 and December 2008.
He was also convicted of killing his wife and mother-in-law in an arson in 2005.
Kang maintained his innocence in the two murder charges but the court convicted
him, citing substantiating evidence.
Kang submitted the appeal to the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Court which
had handed down the death sentence. He did not have any prior consultation with
his attorneys and failed to state his reason for the appeal in the document,
officials said.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on capital punishment for more
than a decade.
While the debate continues in the country over the legality of the death penalty,
the Constitutional Court is expected to decide within this year whether capital
punishment is constitutional. It had previously ruled in 1996 that the death
penalty was unconstitutional.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)