'Valley Murder' Lee Eun-hae, 1-Year Prison Sentence in Appeal for Harboring Criminal... "120 Days of Hiding Is Abuse of Right to Defense"

Joyeon-nam Jo Hyun-su Also Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison

Lee Eun-hae (32, female) and Jo Hyun-soo (31, male), who were additionally indicted on charges of aiding the escape of a criminal in connection with the 'Valley Murder' case, were sentenced to prison again in the appellate court.

The 4th Criminal Appeals Division of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Yoon) sentenced Lee and Jo to one year in prison each on the charge of aiding the escape of a criminal, the same as the first trial, at the appellate sentencing hearing held on the 23rd.

The court stated, "The defendants claim they exercised their right to defense by fleeing on their own, but living in hiding for over 120 days is different from ordinary escape behavior," and judged that "they abused their right to defense as criminal suspects."

It added, "The original judgment is just," and "We do not accept the claims by the prosecution and the defendants that the original sentencing was unfair."

Defendants Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo in the 'Valley Murder' Case [Image Source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, at the appellate trial's closing arguments on the 9th of last month, the prosecution had requested three years of imprisonment for each of them.

Lee and others were additionally indicted on charges of asking two acquaintances, including Mr. B (33, male), to help them escape after disappearing while awaiting prosecution in the December 2021 valley murder case. It was investigated that they also requested funds and hiding places from Mr. B and others to use during their escape.

Lee was first arrested and indicted on charges including the murder of her husband Mr. A (39 years old at the time of death) in June 2019 at Yongsogye Valley in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, together with her lover Jo.

The prosecution judged that they killed Mr. A, who could not swim, by forcing him to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a valley pool 3 meters deep without any rescue equipment.

The court sentenced Lee to life imprisonment and Jo to 30 years in prison in October last year for this case, and the same sentences were upheld in the appellate court in April.

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