Lee Sujeong: "Lee Eunhae, Hard to See Remorse for Victims... Likely Surrendered Aiming for Sentence Reduction"

"A Case Where Proving Intent to Murder Is Extremely Difficult"

Professor Lee Su-jeong, Department of Criminal Psychology, Kyonggi University [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Woo-seok] Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University analyzed on the 21st that Lee Eun-hae (31), the suspect in the 'Valley Murder Case' accused of causing her husband's death for insurance money, "can be seen as having surrendered to negotiate the sentence."

Professor Lee appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the same day and said, "Generally, suspects who surrender disclose the entire process and show an attitude of 'I was wrong to the victim' and 'I will take full responsibility,' but (Lee) shows inconsistent refusal to testify and it is difficult to see any remorse toward the victim, so it can be said that she surrendered aiming for a reduced sentence to be favorable for mitigation."

He said, "It is a case where it is very difficult to prove the intent to murder, and the path ahead seems much longer than the path taken so far," citing first that "there was no physical contact with the deceased victim A." He continued, "Since the victim voluntarily jumped into the water and eventually died, (Lee) has no responsibility for the victim's death," adding, "If she was supposed to help A, who was in danger, but did not and caused the victim's death, it could be argued as 'omission murder,' but in fact, if she says 'I threw a tube. I didn't see it at the last moment,' and that scene is not captured on CCTV, it is a very difficult case to prove."

Professor Lee also said, "The victim was a rational adult male, and no matter how poor his swimming skills were, how can it be reasonably explained that he jumped into the water after being forced by a single word 'jump'?" calling it a "confusing situation."

He added, "Ultimately, it is a situation where it must be clarified whether (Lee) made him do something similar to an extreme choice," and "It is unnatural how Lee's daughter was registered in A's family register during the marriage period, so the prosecution needs to conduct various types of supplementary investigations to clarify many issues."

Regarding the suspicion that Lee and others fed 'pufferfish poison' to A, Professor Lee said, "According to their claim, the messages about pufferfish poison were just a kind of playful conversation, and they never actually fed pufferfish poison," drawing a clear line by saying, "No physical evidence has been secured."

Earlier, Lee submitted a handwritten statement to the court claiming, "If I intended to kill, why would we all eat the food together? The parts containing poison are never served even if the consumer requests it at the restaurant."

Lee is accused of forcing the victim A, who could not swim, to dive at around 8 p.m. on June 30, 2019, at Yongsogye Valley in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, causing his death. She and her accomplice, her lover Jo Hyun-soo, are also accused of attempting to kill A by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison and other substances or by drowning him in a fishing pond in February and May of the same year. The two disappeared ahead of prosecution investigation in December last year and were arrested by the police at an officetel in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, on the 16th, four months later.

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