[Issue Summary] The More You Know, the Creepier... The Past Actions of Lee Eunhae in the 'Valley Murder' Case

[Asia Economy PD Yoon Jin-geun] The past criminal record of Lee Eun-hae (31, female), who is currently wanted, is coming to light.

Lee Eun-hae was prosecuted in May 2009 for special theft and theft charges during her teenage years. From 2008 to early 2009, she repeatedly lured men to motels in Incheon using so-called "조건 만남" (arranged meetings) for prostitution as bait, then stole items while the men were washing themselves and fled.

These crimes were committed either by Lee Eun-hae alone or together with peers. The stolen goods amounted to approximately 4 million KRW.

After being caught and detained at Incheon Detention Center, Lee Eun-hae submitted letters of apology to the court three times before her first trial on May 1, 2009. Subsequently, she was transferred to the juvenile division and received juvenile protection measures at the Incheon District Court's juvenile division in June.

Meanwhile, Lee and her common-law partner and accomplice, Jo, are accused of causing the death of Lee’s husband, Yoon (aged 39 at the time of death), in June 2019 at Gapyeong Yongso Valley by encouraging Yoon, who could not swim, to dive and failing to rescue him.

They disappeared ahead of the prosecution’s second investigation in December last year and have been missing for four months. The prosecution believes that Lee and Jo committed the crime aiming to claim Yoon’s death insurance money, which amounts to 800 million KRW.

Prior to this, in February 2019, Lee and Jo attempted to kill Yoon by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison at a pension in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, but the toxicity was below a lethal dose, resulting in an attempted murder.

Three months later, they tried to kill Yoon by drowning him at a fishing spot in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, but were caught by an acquaintance who woke up.