'Valley Husband Murder Case' Suspects Lee Eunhae and Jo Hyunsoo Publicly Wanted

Public Wanted Notice for Victim's Wife Lee Eunhae and Accomplice Jo Hyunsoo
Fled After Reinvestigation Started... Missing for 3 Months

Suspect Lee Eun-hae (left in photo) and accomplice Jo Hyun-soo in the 'Gapyeong Valley Husband Murder Case' / Photo by Incheon District Prosecutors' Office

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jung-wan] The prosecution has issued a public warrant after the whereabouts of a woman in her 30s and her accomplice, who were under investigation for killing her husband three years ago in a valley in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, have been unknown for three months.

The Criminal Division 2 of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Chang-soo) announced on the 30th that they have issued a warrant for the arrest of Lee Eun-hae (31) and her accomplice Jo Hyun-soo (30), who were under investigation without detention on charges of murder, attempted murder, and attempted violation of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud.

The two were identified as prime suspects in the murder of Lee’s husband Yoon (aged 39 at the time of death), who was drowned, and fled before their second summons on December 14 last year while under prosecution investigation. The prosecution explained the reason for the public warrant, stating, "Various tracking investigations have been continuously conducted to locate the suspects, but their whereabouts have not yet been confirmed."

The prosecution believes that they forced Yoon, who could not swim at all, to dive into the valley and did not rescue him, resulting in his drowning and death.

Earlier, in February 2019, at a pension in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province, they attempted to kill Yoon by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish gonads and blood, but the toxicity was below the lethal dose, resulting in an attempted murder.

In May of the same year, they tried to kill Yoon again by drowning him at a fishing spot in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province, but Yoon’s acquaintance, who woke up, discovered the situation, and Yoon came out of the water, resulting in another attempted murder.

In November of the year Yoon died, Lee claimed life insurance benefits on her husband from an insurance company but was denied payment due to suspicion of insurance fraud and did not receive the insurance money. At that time, the insurance company reportedly refused to pay the benefits due to suspicion of fraudulent activity.

Investigations confirmed that Lee and Jo were in an extramarital relationship and committed these crimes to fraudulently obtain life insurance money taken out in Yoon’s name.

Initially, after Yoon’s death, the Gapyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province closed the case as an unattended death, but in October 2019, a relative of the bereaved family reported the case to the Ilsan Western Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, and the case was transferred to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, which has jurisdiction over Lee and Jo’s residences, leading to a reinvestigation.

This case became known as the "Valley Murder Case" after being featured on a current affairs program of a broadcasting company in October 2020.

Through the investigation, the prosecution confirmed a total of three criminal charges against Lee and Jo by November last year, and they were booked without detention and underwent a first investigation on December 13 last year.

However, when they were summoned for a second investigation the next day, December 14 last year, they did not appear and fled, and their whereabouts have been unknown for three months.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.