'Valley Murder' Lee Eunhae's Daughter Adoption Nullification Lawsuit, First Trial on the 21st

Suspect Lee Eun-hae (31) in the 'Valley Murder' case is entering the Incheon District Court in Michuhol-gu, Incheon City on April 19 to attend a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The first trial of the lawsuit filed by the prosecution claiming that the adoption of the daughter of Lee Eunhae (31), the 'valley murder' suspect, as the adoptive son of the victimized husband is invalid will be held on the 21st.

According to the legal community on the 20th, Judge Kim Kyung-yoon of the Family Court Division 4 at Suwon Family Court will conduct the first hearing of the adoption invalidation lawsuit filed by the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office at 3:30 p.m. on the 21st. Lee Eunhae can attend as the legal representative of her daughter, but since the second trial of the criminal case is ongoing, it is uncertain whether she will appear in person to state her position in the adoption invalidation lawsuit.

Earlier, the prosecution arrested and indicted Lee Eunhae on charges of murdering her husband Yoon (aged 39 at the time of death), and in May filed a lawsuit claiming that the adoption of the daughter born to Lee Eunhae in 2018 as Yoon's adoptive son was invalid. The prosecution explained that they received a request from the bereaved family to "organize the family relationship registration details related to Lee Eunhae's daughter, who was adopted as the victim's adoptive son."

The bereaved family stated, "Although the daughter was adopted on the premise of marriage, as revealed during the murder trial, Lee Eunhae had no intention of marriage," and added, "The purpose is to clarify the legal relationship between the deceased and Lee Eunhae." Yoon had prepared a newlywed home in Incheon with Lee Eunhae in 2016, but until his death, he lived alone in the basement room of a multi-family house in Suwon.

Meanwhile, Lee Eunhae and her accomplice and lover Jo Hyunsoo (30) were arrested and indicted on charges including murder for forcing Yoon to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without rescue equipment at Yongsogyeok Valley in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, on June 30, 2019. They are also accused of attempting to kill Yoon by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison in February and May 2019 or by drowning him in a fishing spot. Investigations revealed that Lee Eunhae economically exploited Yoon for years, and when his financial ruin made him less valuable, she planned with Jo Hyunsoo to kill Yoon and collect 800 million won in life insurance money.

The first trial of the criminal case concluded this incident as indirect murder and sentenced Lee Eunhae to life imprisonment. Jo Hyunsoo was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Although the court did not accept the prosecution's claim of 'active murder' through gaslighting (psychological control), it recognized the charge of 'murder by omission (indirect murder)' as guilty. The prosecution appealed, arguing that it should be regarded as direct murder rather than indirect murder.

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