A Seoul court on Tuesday sentenced a young man to life imprisonment for brutally killing an online game mate he stalked and her family members, in a case that raised awareness about stalking crimes

The Seoul Northern District Court delivered the sentence to Kim Tae-hyun, 25, indicted on five criminal charges, including murder, housebreaking and theft.

Kim was arrested at the victims' home on March 25, with self-inflicted injuries, two days after killing the three women there. He had been stalking the eldest daughter, whom he met while playing online games last year.

As she cut communications with him, Kim disguised himself as a deliveryman to enter her home and killed the youngest daughter who was at home alone. He waited for the other two to come home and stabbed them to death when they arrived, according to a previous police probe.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Kim. (Yonhap)