A new suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Korean woman in a group religious practice (Soldiers of Christ) in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
The seventh person arrested is the mother of three of the six suspects (Joonho, Joonhyun, and Junyeong Lee), who investigators say tried to recruit another Korean woman in addition to the original victim.
According to Gwinnett County inmate data, Mihee Lee, 54, was arrested and jailed on October 11 for the murder of a Korean woman, Sehee Cho, 31. Lee was arrested at a Lawrenceville-area home (2415 Stable Gate), which was the suspects’ residence and the location of the crime.
Lee was charged with felony murder, imprisonment, concealing the death of another, tampering with evidence, and false statements and writings. At this time, she is being held on no bond.
The court also heard a bail request for one of the suspects, Joonho Lee. While the defense argued that he had a perfectly clean record and was just a student at Emory University, bond was denied. Judge denied his request for bail because he could influence witnesses.
Upon requesting the denial of bail, Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Han Chung told the court that Cho had been dead for nearly a month before her body was discovered. She weighed around 70 pounds.
The Gwinnett County Police Department also released some of the results of its investigation.
According to the interview with Fox5 News, “Police received a search warrant for the defendants’ phones. There, they say they found messages showing Joonho Lee and Hyunji Lee discussing Cho, who they believe was given the nickname “Number 5.” In the messages, Joonho Lee said that Cho tried to attack him and tried to escape and that her training was “finished.”
According to police, Lee told them that the victim, Cho, had been training for 10 days to join his group, the Soldiers of Christ. Afterward, Lee claimed that Cho broke the rules by stealing items and attacked him.
Another minor, Junyeong Lee (15), reportedly told police, “Cho wanted to leave, but she couldn’t quit midway through.”
In addition to the victim, Cho was also allegedly trying to recruit additional members. After Cho’s murder, police found messages in which Joonho Lee and Hyunji Lee discussed recruiting another Korean woman, a student at Georgia Tech, to join their religious group.
A judge released Eric Hyun, one of the six original murder suspects, on October 11 on $100,000 bail.
David Boyle, the defense attorney for one of the suspects, Eric Hyun, 26, maintained his innocence, saying, “Mr. Hyun was also physically tortured by them and was a victim of the group.” Boyle showed the judge gruesome pictures of the 26-year year old UGA grad actually being and tortured by the suspects. Boyle says his client escaped the Lee house with Ms. Cho’s body in his trunk and called his relatives for help.
Hyun allegedly parked his Jaguar containing the body in front of a Korean American sauna in the Atlanta area and called his family to “get the stuff in the car” after he went to the hospital for treatment.
“He was beaten very badly with a whip, stripped naked, beaten about his genitals, and then they shot him with an airsoft gun in his arms and his back and his crotch. In addition, at some point during this they took a sanding block and sanded the skin off of his chest,” Boyle revealed.
Boyle says his client was forced to wire tens of thousands of dollars to Korea, maxed out his credit cards and used his credit to buy a house.
Hyun is currently being held in the medical wing of the Gwinnett County Jail for injuries sustained during the torture.
Police examined his cell phone records and found that the suspects referred to him as “Number 4,” and reportedly obtained video footage of Lee tying him up while he was naked and beating him all over his body, including his genitals, with a leather belt.
After police arrested the three brothers’ mother, the Korea Daily tried to reach the mother’s husband, a pastor, by phone several times on October 11 to get his side of the story, but was unable to reach him.
BY YEOL JANG [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
