A South Korean man, identified only as Kim, has been sentenced to life in prison after a district court in Incheon concluded that he killed his girlfriend for life-insurance money—effectively tossing aside the long-held theory that she was choked by an octopus in their hotel room.  Why would people ever believe that in the first place?  Well, as Agence France-Presse reports, “Live octopus is a delicacy in South Korea but is a known choking hazard, since the still-moving suction cups can cause tentacle pieces to stick in a person’s throat.”  So no, it didn’t escape from the aquarium or anything…

According to the AFP, Kim had purchased a pair of octopi and checked into a cheap motel with his girlfriend, known only as Yoon, in April 2010.  He later called reception and said that his girlfriend had collapsed while consuming the tasty treat, often enjoyed with a sprinkle of sesame oil.  The Korea-stone cops found a tentacle lodged in her gullet, took Kim’s word for it, and the body was cremated.  Case closed.

Well, not quite.  It seems the father of the died thought Kim seemed a little fishy, and slippery as an eel, so he hired a PI to investigate.  That’s when the information about the policy, which had been taken out shortly before Yoon’s death, came to life, erm, light.  Even though the body had already been burned, there was enough “indirect evidence” to make the courts take a closer look, and come to a different conclusion.  “The victim had always had difficulty chewing so it is unrealistic to believe she ate a huge octopus … without even chopping it,” a court spokesman told AFP.

Hmm, I don’t suppose the Koreans could take a closer look at Jimi Hendrix’s drowning death, could they?