14. King Yeongjo Ordered His Son Executed Via Starvation
Prince Sado’s shocking conduct and murderous ways made him widely feared throughout Korea as a serial rapist, serial killer, and all-around dangerous psychopath. Eventually, the crown prince’s father, King Yeongjo, had enough. He determined that he could not, in good conscience, inflict his criminally insane son upon the Korean people as their next monarch. So on July 4th, 1762, Sado was summoned by his father, who ceremonially struck the floor with a sword and declared the crown prince deposed.
However, that still left unanswered the question of just what to do with Sado. His father ordered him to take the honorable path by committing suicide, but the prince refused to do so. Court rules and taboos prohibited the outright execution of member of the royal family. So the king had Sado placed inside a heavy wooden chest used for storing grain, and locked him inside. There, the deposed prince was left to starve to death. It took him eight days to die.