Suspects Lee Eun-hae (left) and Jo Hyun-soo in the "Valley Murder Case" are being escorted to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office on April 16, 2022. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Arrest warrants have been requested for Lee Eunhae (31) and accomplice Jo Hyunsoo (30), suspects in the so-called 'Gapyeong Valley Murder Case,' where the husband was killed in a valley for insurance money.
The Criminal Division 2 of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Changsoo) announced on the 18th that they have requested arrest warrants for the suspects on charges of murder, attempted murder, and attempted violation of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud.
The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) for them will be held on the 19th at 2 p.m. at the Incheon District Court, presided over by Judge So Byungjin, who is in charge of warrants.
Lee is accused of killing her husband 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 believes that they forced A, who could not swim at all, to dive into the valley without any equipment and ignored his calls for help, resulting in his death.
The prosecution applied the charge of so-called 'omission murder,' stating that the suspects deliberately did not rescue A despite being able to do so, aiming for the 800 million KRW life insurance money taken out in A's name.
Lee and others are also accused of attempting to kill A in February 2019 by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison at a pension in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province, but the toxicity was below a lethal dose, resulting in an attempted murder. Additionally, three months earlier, they are accused of attempting to kill A by drowning him at a fishing spot in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province.
B (30), a friend of Jo who played in the water with the victim before his death in the valley, is also charged with murder and other offenses. He has 18 prior convictions and is currently detained for another fraud case.
Lee and Jo disappeared before their second investigation by the prosecution on December 14 last year and were arrested by the police on the 16th near Samsong Station in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, after four months on the run.
The prosecution has identified the accomplice who helped them escape and is expected to summon them for questioning soon.
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