'Valley Murder' Lee Eunhae Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in 2nd Trial... "Not a 'Direct Murder'" (Summary)

Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo, who are on trial for the 'valley murder' charge.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Eun-hae (32, female), who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial on charges of 'valley murder,' was also sentenced to life imprisonment in the appellate trial.

On the 26th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-1 (Presiding Judges Won Jong-chan, Park Won-cheol, Lee Ui-young) held the appellate sentencing hearing for Lee and others who were indicted and detained on charges including murder and attempted murder, and sentenced Lee to life imprisonment. Lee’s accomplice and lover, Jo Hyun-soo (31, male), also had his 30-year prison sentence from the first trial upheld.

The court stated, "The defendants committed two attempted murders and a murder aiming for an insurance payout of 800 million won, and their culpability is very serious," adding, "They claimed the insurance money without any remorse, there has been no restitution for the victims’ families, and their circumstances, including fleeing, are unfavorable."

Earlier, the prosecution had requested life imprisonment for both individuals in the appellate trial, just as in the first trial.

A key issue in the trial was whether the acts of Lee and others could be considered murder by commission.

The prosecution argued that the two committed 'commission murder' through gaslighting (psychological domination). However, the first trial court recognized the crime as 'murder by omission (indirect murder)' for deliberately not rescuing the victim who fell into the water after diving, sentencing Lee to life imprisonment and Jo to 30 years in prison.

On this day, the second trial court stated, "We do not recognize the point that the murder was committed through gaslighting," and "We deny murder by commission (active act) through psychological subjugation."

The court judged, "While there are elements of gaslighting related to the psychological master-slave relationship formation between the victim and Lee Eun-hae, it is unclear whether domination was exercised."

Lee was indicted and detained on charges of killing her husband A (39 years old at the time of death) by making him jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without rescue equipment at Yongsogye Valley in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, on June 30, 2019, together with her lover Jo.

They are also accused of attempting to kill A by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison and other substances in February and May 2019 or by making him fall into fishing pond water.

Investigations revealed that Lee economically exploited A for years, and when his financial ruin made him less useful, she planned with Jo to kill A and claim 800 million won in life insurance, carrying out the crime accordingly.

Lee filed a civil lawsuit against the insurance company in November 2020 demanding the 800 million won insurance payout. This trial, which had been suspended for nearly two years due to Lee’s criminal trial, is scheduled to resume on the afternoon of the 30th of next month.

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