[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Lee Eun-hae (32, female) and Jo Hyun-soo (31, male), who were sentenced to life imprisonment and 30 years in prison respectively in the first trial for the 'Valley Murder' case, were additionally sentenced to 3 years in prison for instructing others to help a criminal evade arrest.
On the 16th, at the sentencing hearing for the charge of instructing others to help a criminal evade arrest held under Judge Lee Daero of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 8, the prosecution requested a 3-year prison sentence each for Lee and Jo.
From the left, Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo, defendants in the 'Valley Murder' case. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The prosecution stated, "The defendants deny the crime and show no remorse," and added, "The law should not show leniency to them."
On the same day, the prosecution requested a prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months for A (32, female), a middle school classmate of Lee who was also indicted for helping a criminal evade arrest, and 1 year for her ex-boyfriend.
The prosecution said, "While Lee and Jo may have been inseparable friends to the defendants, to Mr. Yoon, they were devils who should never have been met in this world," and added, "The defendants who materially and morally assisted Lee and Jo have a bad criminal nature."
Under criminal law, the criminal themselves cannot be the subject of the crime of helping a criminal evade arrest or concealment. However, if the criminal not only evades arrest themselves but also instructs a third party to conceal or help them evade, the Supreme Court recognizes the establishment of the crime of instructing others to help a criminal evade arrest or concealment.
In her final statement, Lee tearfully said, "I did not ask for help to evade arrest using funds from operating an illegal site. Honestly, my friends urged me to surrender, but at that time, I did not know what to do."
She also said, "I should not have run away like that," and "I am sorry because of me."
Jo said, "I apologize for causing social unrest," and "I am once again sorry to others who were harmed because of us."
Lee and Jo were indicted on charges of asking two acquaintances, including B (33, male), to help them evade arrest after disappearing ahead of the second prosecution investigation in December 2021 regarding the valley murder case.
It was investigated that they requested B and others to secure funds and a hiding place to use while evading arrest. B and the other two were indicted for helping a criminal evade arrest and were sentenced to 1 to 2 years in prison in the first trial last November.
Lee was arrested and indicted on charges including killing her husband Yoon (39 at the time of death) by forcing him to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without rescue equipment at Yongsogye Valley in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province on June 30, 2019, together with her lover Jo.
Earlier, the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 15 (Chief Judge Lee Gyu-hoon), which handled the murder case of the two, sentenced Lee to life imprisonment and Jo to 30 years in prison in October last year, and ordered the attachment of an electronic tracking device for 20 years after the completion of their sentences.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
