Busan, South Korea – A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his high school friend in the Philippines, where the victim's body was cremated, making it difficult to determine the exact cause of death.

A South Korean court found the man guilty of premeditated murder, fraud, and forgery. The court ruled that the suspect had killed his friend to collect a large life insurance payout.

The victim, a 39-year-old man, was found dead in a hotel room in Boracay in early 2020. The suspect claimed the death was due to acute alcohol poisoning and had the body cremated without informing the victim's family. However, suspicious circumstances led the family to file a police report.

Key evidence presented by the prosecution included:

Discrepancies in the suspect's statements: The suspect's account of the events leading up to the victim's death was inconsistent and lacked credibility.
Forged documents: The suspect had forged documents to claim a large sum of money from the victim's life insurance policy, for which he was the beneficiary.
Evidence of premeditation: The suspect had searched online for information about life insurance payouts for deaths caused by asphyxiation, suggesting he had planned the murder.
Presence of sleeping pills: The victim's clothing tested positive for sleeping pills, which the suspect had access to.

The court concluded that the victim had been murdered by asphyxiation after being drugged. While the exact cause of death could not be definitively determined due to the cremation, the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution was deemed sufficient to prove the suspect's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.