WOMAN SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR INDIRECT MURDER

[Anchor Lead]

The court handed down lifetime imprisonment for Lee Eun-hae and 30 years in prison for Cho Hyun-soo for indirectly murdering Lee's husband by not rescuing the non-swimmer when he was flailing in the water. Since the remorseless defendant made several previous attempts to kill her husband, the court saw it fit to separate her from society indefinitely.

[Pkg]

The Incheon District Court sentenced Lee Eun-hae to life in prison for murdering her husband in Gapyeong Valley about three years ago. Lee's boyfriend and accomplice Cho Hyun-soo was sentenced to 30 years. The key issue in this case was whether not rescuing the victim after forcing the non-swimmer to dive into the water constituted direct or indirect murder. The court determined that urging the victim who couldn't swim to jump into the water and not rescuing him promptly was indirect murder. Since the victim jumped off the cliff voluntarily, the court didn't see it as direct murder by psychological domination as the prosecution claimed. Their gas-lighting mainly involved exploiting the victim financially, not forcing him to accept the life-threatening demand.

[Soundbite] Shin Joong-kwon(Lawyer) : "To become direct murder, their gaslighting should have had the same effect as if they had pushed him into the water. That’s not easy to prove."

The bench explained that their premeditated crime of killing him had essentially the same effect as direct murder. The court believed that if this crime had not been successful, Lee and Cho would clearly have kept trying to kill him. The court also recognized attempted murder charges. They were accused of trying to kill the victim by putting puffer fish poison in his food and trying to push him into a fishing pond. The court's ruling read that Lee succeeded in killing the victim after repeated attempts in hopes of receiving 800 million won in an insurance payout, and since her crime was extremely heinous, she needs to be separated from society indefinitely.

[Soundbite] (Victim’s Family) : "It could have been unfavorable to us since evidence was rather insufficient. But in the end we are satisfied."

Lee's attorney said an appeal will be filed.