[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] It has been revealed that Lee Eun-hae (31) and Jo Hyun-soo (30), involved in the 'valley murder' case, received 19 million won from two acquaintances who assisted them and lived in hiding for four months.
The Criminal Division 2 of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Chang-soo) announced on the 16th that acquaintances A (32) and B (31) were arrested and indicted on charges of aiding fugitives.
The prosecution also added charges of instigating the aiding of fugitives against Lee and Jo, who were already on trial for murder and attempted murder.
A and others are suspected of assisting Lee and Jo in hiding for four months after they disappeared while under investigation by the prosecution in December last year without detention.
It was investigated that they planned the escape together at A's house on the 13th of the same month when Lee and others were being questioned by the prosecution.
A raised funds after being asked by Lee and others to provide living expenses and a hiding place, while B was found to have signed a lease contract for an officetel on their behalf to hide them.
The prosecution believes that Lee and Jo received a total of 19 million won from A and others as funds for living expenses and officetel rent during their escape. Additionally, two other accomplices who helped Lee and Jo during their time in hiding are also under investigation.
Lee was arrested and indicted on charges including the murder of her husband C (39 years old at the time of death) on June 30, 2019, at 8:24 p.m. in Yongsogye Valley, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, together with her common-law partner Jo.
The prosecution judged that they forced C, who could not swim, to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without rescue equipment, resulting in his death.
Instead of applying the charge of 'murder by omission,' which is used when someone deliberately does not rescue despite being able to, they applied the charge of 'murder by commission,' which corresponds to directly killing.
They are also suspected of attempting to kill C in February and May of the same year by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison and by drowning him in a fishing pond.
Lee and Jo disappeared before the prosecution's second investigation on December 14 last year and were caught by the police on the 16th of last month at an officetel near Samsong Station in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, after four months on the run.
The prosecution indicted Lee and Jo on three charges including murder, attempted murder, and attempted violation of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud on the 4th. The case was assigned to Criminal Division 15 of Incheon District Court (Chief Judge Lee Gyu-hoon).
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