'Valley Murder' Lee Eun-hae's Daughter Adoption Nullification Lawsuit Transferred to Suwon Family Court

Defendant Lee Eun-hae in the 'Valley Murder' case [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The adoption nullification lawsuit related to the daughter of Lee Eunhae (31), who was indicted in the 'Valley Murder' case, is expected to proceed at the Suwon Family Court.

According to the legal community on the 26th, Chief Judge Lee Yeo-jin of the Family Division 2 at Incheon Family Court recently decided to transfer the adoption nullification lawsuit filed by the prosecution against Lee’s daughter from Incheon Family Court to Suwon Family Court.

The court is reported to have judged that it is proper to hold the trial at Suwon Family Court, which has jurisdiction over the last residence of Lee’s daughter’s adoptive parents and her husband A (who was 39 years old at the time of death).

According to Article 30 of the Family Litigation Act, adoption nullification lawsuits fall under the jurisdiction of the family court at the adoptive parents’ last residence if the adoptive parents have passed away.

A secured a newlywed home in Incheon with Lee in 2016, but until his death, he lived alone in a basement room of a row house in Suwon. Although the adoption nullification lawsuit concerning Lee’s daughter has now been transferred to Suwon Family Court, the presiding judge has not yet been assigned.

Earlier, on the 3rd, the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office filed an adoption nullification lawsuit against Lee after indicting her and her accomplice Jo Hyun-soo (30) on charges of detention. This was in response to the bereaved family’s request to correct the family relationship registration concerning Lee’s daughter, who was adopted as the victim’s adopted child.

Lee was indicted on charges including the murder of her husband A on June 30, 2019, at 8:24 p.m. in Yongsogye Valley, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, together with her lover Jo.

The prosecution believes that they forced A, who could not swim, to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without rescue equipment, resulting in his death.

They applied the charge of 'murder by commission' rather than 'murder by omission,' which applies when someone intentionally kills by failing to act despite being able to rescue.

They are also accused of attempting to kill C 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.

Lee and Jo disappeared before the prosecution’s second investigation on December 14 last year and were arrested by police four months later on the 16th of last month at an officetel near Samsong Station in Goyang City.

Meanwhile, their first trial, originally scheduled for the 27th, was postponed to the 3rd of next month due to the recent appointment of a private defense attorney and preparation for the defense.

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