Gyegok Murder Case

Overview

The 'Gyegok Murder Case' (Gapyeong Yongso Valley Murder Case) refers to the incident on the evening of June 30, 2019, when Lee Eun-hae's husband (then 39 years old) dove into the Yongso Valley in Jeongmok-ri, Bukmyeon, Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, and drowned. It was initially handled as a simple unnatural death, but a re-investigation revealed that Lee Eun-hae and her lover Jo Hyeon-su had killed him in order to obtain 800 million won in life insurance money under his name. Earlier, in February 2019, the two were also suspected of feeding him food mixed with pufferfish blood and similar substances at a pension in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, and in May they allegedly attempted to drown him at a fishing pond in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. On September 21, 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed a life sentence for Lee Eun-hae and a 30-year prison term for Jo Hyeon-su (Yonhap News).

Course of Events

Handling as an Unnatural Death and Re-investigation

After the husband's death, Gapyeong Police Station closed the case as an unnatural death after an internal inquiry. Five months later, Lee Eun-hae filed an insurance claim, but the insurance company suspected fraud and refused payment. According to Yonhap News, the husband died four hours before the end of the insurance contract, which had been signed in August 2017. In October 2019, an acquaintance of the bereaved family reported the matter to Ilsan Seobu Police Station, which led to a re-investigation. In October 2020, the SBS program Tell Me the Truth broadcast the suspicions. According to the Korean Wikipedia, this broadcast was prompted by Lee Eun-hae's tip in which she appealed about her grievances in the insurance dispute. In December 2020, the two were sent to prosecutors without detention on charges including murder, and the case was transferred to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, which conducted a full re-investigation starting in February 2021.

Flight and Arrest

The Incheon District Prosecutors' Office spent nine months conducting searches and seizures, three on-site inspections, and questioning about 30 related persons. Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyeon-su received their first prosecutorial questioning on December 13, 2021, and fled the following day before a second round of questioning. On March 30, 2022, the prosecutors placed the two on a public wanted list, and on April 16 they were arrested at an officetel in Deogyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. They were formally detained on April 19. Accomplices who helped them evade capture were also investigated separately.

Trial

The prosecutors indicted Lee Eun-hae for "murder by commission," alleging that she had psychologically dominated the victim over a long period (gaslighting) and caused him, who could not swim, to jump into the water on his own.

• First trial (October 27, 2022, Incheon District Court): The court did not recognize direct murder by gaslighting. However, it recognized "murder by omission," in which the two had a duty to rescue the victim after making him jump into the valley but deliberately failed to save him. It also found the attempted murders in Yangyang and Yongin guilty and sentenced Lee Eun-hae to life imprisonment and Jo Hyeon-su to 30 years in prison.