[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Defendants Lee Eunhae (31) and Jo Hyunsoo (30) in the 'Valley Murder' case recently appointed private defense attorneys, resulting in the first trial being postponed by one week and rescheduled for the 3rd of next month.
According to the legal community on the 25th, Lee and Jo, who were indicted on charges of murder, attempted murder, and attempted violation of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud, jointly appointed two private defense attorneys instead of the court-appointed public defenders during the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing).
The defendants' attorneys submitted a request for a change of trial date to the Criminal Division 15 of Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Gyuhun) the day before, and the court accepted the request, postponing the first trial.
The attorneys reportedly requested the court to postpone the first trial, stating, "We need to copy and review the prosecution's investigation records, but due to the large volume, there is insufficient time to prepare."
Accordingly, the first trial originally scheduled for the 27th of this month has been changed to the 3rd of next month.
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 around 8:24 p.m. in Yongsogye Valley, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, together with her lover Jo.
The prosecution believes that they caused the death by forcing C, who could not swim, to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without any rescue equipment.
Instead of applying the charge of 'murder by omission,' which is used when someone deliberately fails to rescue despite being able to, the prosecution applied the charge of 'murder by commission,' which corresponds to directly killing the victim.
They are also accused 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 fishing pond water.
Lee and Jo went into hiding before the prosecution's second investigation on December 14 last year and were arrested 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.
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