Student Murder Case Re-Opened

A spokesperson from the Cheongju Local Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday that Yoon, 61, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering a murder in March 2002, accused her nephew, Yoon, and his accomplice, Kim, of perjury last October.

Yoon’s nephew, 44, and Kim, 43, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Ha, 22, a college student, at Mt. Geomdan, located in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, also admitted that it was a false statement that Yoon hired them to kill Ha. Because of this, the prosecution has started re-investigating the murder case.

Yoon is the former wife of Yoo Won-ki, CEO of Youngnam Flour Mills Company, who is entangled now in Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan’s golf outing scandal.

Yoon denied the charge of ordering a murder, asserting that, “Yoon and Kim made a false statement in court that I ordered them to kill Ha,” adding, “I just ordered them to keep and watch her, not kill her.”

Regarding this, Yoon’s nephew and Kim also changed their statement, saying, “Yoon didn’t order us to kill Ha,” said a spokesperson from the prosecution.

But a source from the prosecution said, “We are closely examining records on the case now,” adding, “Since it is difficult to charge someone of perjury just because they changed their statement, we will thoroughly investigate this case.”

According to initial investigation, Yoon, who suspected that her son-in-law, who was a judge then, had a love affair with his relative, Ha, hired her nephew and Kim to kill Ha. The court sentenced Yoon to life imprisonment on charges of ordering a murder.

Yoon suspected their liaison from the end of 1999. Since then, Yoon has closely watched Ha by hiring as many as 20 persons, including her nephew and five policemen. Disguising as a monk, Yoon’s nephew also often hung around Ha’s house to orchestrate their surveillance.

However, Ha’s family accused Yoon of defamation in 2001, and the court ordered Yoon to keep away from Ha’s residence, not to shadow Ha, and not to hire people for this purpose.

Afterwards, according to the initial investigation, Yoon promised to give 175 million won to her nephew and Kim in compensation for killing Ha.

After conducting clinical tests using a guinea pig, Yoon’s nephew and Kim first attempted to kill Ha by using poison. When that didn’t work out, they kidnapped Ha, who was leaving home to go swim, and brought Ha to Mt. Geomdan, where they shot her in the head six times. For this scheme, it was revealed that they had previously bought 100 bullets and a rifle.

Yoon, who strongly denied the charge of ordering a murder from the beginning of the investigation, appealed to Supreme Court after being sentenced to life imprisonment in lower court. However, the Supreme Court rejected her appeal, stating that there was sufficient evidence to confirm Yoon’s charges, such as recorded telephone conversations, Yoon’s nephew’s consistent testimony, and the amount of money in bank accounts that changed hands in accordance with the development of their deal. After the Supreme Court’s rejection of her appeal, Yoon divorced her husband.

Myung-Hun Jee mhjee@donga.com weappon@donga.com