'Valley Murder' Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo Deny Charges in Court: "Did Not Conspire to Kill"

Suspects in the 'Valley Murder' Case, Lee Eun-hae (left) and Jo Hyun-soo [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Lee Eunhae (31) and Jo Hyunsoo (30), who were indicted in the 'Valley Murder' case, have completely denied the charges of murder and other accusations in court.

At the second trial held on the morning of the 7th at the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 15 (Chief Judge Lee Gyuhun), their joint defense attorney stated, "The defendants deny all the charges (murder, attempted murder, and violation of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud, attempted)."

The defense argued, "They never conspired to kill the victim, nor did they attempt to receive any insurance money."

When Chief Judge Lee asked Lee, "Do you agree with your attorney's statement?" she nodded twice and replied, "Yes, I agree." Jo also gave a brief "Yes" in response to the same question.

The joint defense attorneys of Lee and Jo stated that they do not agree to the admission of substantial evidence submitted by the prosecution during the court's evidence examination process, including the investigation initiation report, investigation intelligence report, investigation report, and crime analysis report.

Previously, at the first trial held on the 3rd of last month, the defense said, "We applied to review the evidence records but were denied, so we have not seen the prosecution's evidence records and cannot clarify whether the charges are admitted."

Lee was arrested and indicted on charges including the murder of her husband Yoon (aged 39 at the time of death) on June 30, 2019, at Yongsogye Valley in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, along with her lover Jo.

The prosecution concluded that they killed Yoon, who could not swim, by forcing him to jump from a 4-meter-high rock into a 3-meter-deep valley pool without any rescue equipment.

They are also accused of attempting to kill Yoon earlier in February and May 2019 by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison and drowning him in fishing pond water.

The prosecution concluded that Lee and Jo planned the crime with the intention of claiming 800 million won in life insurance taken out in Yoon's name.

Lee and others disappeared before the prosecution's second investigation on December 14 last year and were caught by the police four months later in April at an officetel near Samsong Station in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.