The Court Reopening the Case of Lee Chun-jae's 8th Incident, "Summons Lee Chun-jae for Interrogation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The retrial court for the 8th serial murder case of Lee Chun-jae has summoned Lee Chun-jae as a witness. This follows the forensic results from the National Forensic Service on two strands of hair found at the scene, which had been considered crucial evidence to identify the true culprit, but no DNA was detected.

The Suwon District Court Criminal Division 12 (Chief Judge Park Jeong-je) announced on the 7th during the 5th retrial hearing of the case, "We will summon Lee Chun-jae as the final witness of the retrial and conduct an examination."

This decision by the court came after the only piece of evidence expected to settle the controversy over the true culprit?the hair strands found at the scene?was judged as "unable to be analyzed" due to the forensic results. The court explained, "On the 11th of last month, the forensic results for the two hair strands from the scene arrived from the National Forensic Service. However, the hair strands were contaminated by tape and had been stored for over 30 years, resulting in DNA degradation and loss. Additionally, the hair samples were minimal, leading to insufficient DNA and a 'deferred judgment' result."

It added, "Since no objective evidence has emerged, we will summon Lee Chun-jae as a witness and examine him as the final witness in the retrial."

Previously, the National Forensic Service transferred records related to the forensic examination of Lee Chun-jae’s 8th case to the National Archives around 2017-2018. Attached to these records were two strands of hair from the crime scene, taped and stored for over 30 years.

The police officer in charge of forensic examination during the 8th case, who took the witness stand that day, testified, "Considering the importance of the case, the forensic team from the Provincial Police Agency was responsible for the examination at that time." The 5th retrial hearing will resume in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the 8th case of Lee Chun-jae refers to the incident on September 16, 1988, in Jinan-ri, Taean-eup, Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, where a 13-year-old daughter of Mr. Park was found sexually assaulted and dead at home. The following year, Yoon, who was arrested as the suspect, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial but denied the charges, claiming "a false confession under police coercion." However, the second and third trial courts dismissed these claims.

After serving 20 years and being paroled in 2009, Yoon filed for a retrial in November last year following Lee Chun-jae’s confession to the crimes. The court accepted this in January this year and decided to commence the retrial.