International Courant
A seventh individual has been arrested on homicide costs within the demise of a South Korean girl whose physique was discovered decaying in a automobile trunk in suburban Atlanta.
Police arrested Mihee Lee, 54, on Wednesday. She’s the mom of three others already accused of homicide within the demise of 33-year-old Sehee Cho, Gwinnett County police mentioned.
Investigators imagine Cho traveled to the US from South Korea in July to hitch a spiritual group, referred to as Troopers of Christ. The suspects referred to themselves as members of the group, investigators mentioned.
Cho’s physique was discovered Sept. 12, wrapped in a blanket in a automobile parked in Duluth.
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A lawyer for one more suspect, Eric Hyun, mentioned he was really a sufferer of the identical type of torture that Cho was subjected to. A choose launched Hyun on $100,000 bail Wednesday.
Investigators mentioned they imagine Cho was held in opposition to her will for weeks within the basement of the Lee household’s Lawrenceville residence, the place Cho was overwhelmed and denied meals till her demise. Mihee Lee restricted the sufferer’s water consumption and prevented her from leaving or searching for medical care whereas she underwent “spiritual coaching,” in response to an arrest warrant.
Mihee Lee is charged with felony homicide, false imprisonment, tampering with proof, concealing the demise of one other and false statements or writings to the federal government.
Police examine a automobile after a physique was present in one other automobile on Sept. 12, 2023, in Duluth, Georgia. (Gwinnett County Police through AP)
Dealing with costs of felony homicide, false imprisonment, tampering with proof and concealing the demise of one other are Hyun, 26, of Suwanee; Gawon Lee, 26; Joonho Lee, 26; Joonhyun Lee, 22; Hyunji Lee, 25, and a 15-year-old, all from Lawrenceville.
These six additionally face gang-related costs. Georgia’s gang legislation permits any group of three or extra individuals who have interaction collectively in legal exercise to be charged as gang members.
Mihee Lee is the mom of Joonhyun Lee, Joonho Lee and and the 15-year-old, police mentioned Wednesday.
No lawyer is listed for Mihee Lee or Gawon Lee in courtroom information. Legal professionals for Joonhyun Lee and Hyunji Lee did not instantly reply to emails searching for remark Wednesday.
At a bond listening to for Joonho Lee on Wednesday morning, WAGA-TV studies that Gwinnett County Assistant District Lawyer Han Chung informed a choose that Cho was useless for practically a month earlier than her physique was found. She weighed round 70 kilos at her demise.
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Chung mentioned Joonho Lee informed investigators that Cho was voluntarily present process an admission course of to hitch the group. The 15-year-old juvenile defendant informed police Cho wished to depart however “there was no quitting this system.”
Joonho Lee has no legal file and is a pupil at Emory College. His lawyer, Scott Drake, mentioned by electronic mail that he believed Lee met necessities for bail. Drake mentioned he did not but have sufficient details about the case to say whether or not Lee deserved costs together with homicide.
However Gwinnett County Superior Court docket Choose Tamela Adkins denied bail to Joonho Lee.
“You’re a menace to commit further felonies and a danger to intimidate witnesses on this case,” Adkins mentioned, in response to a report by WSB-TV.
Police say Hyun parked the automobile that contained Cho’s physique. A lawyer for Hyun, David Boyle, mentioned in a Wednesday assertion that the Lees tortured Hyun in the identical basement on the identical time they have been abusing Cho, together with sanding pores and skin off his chest to “indoctrinate him into their spiritual extremism.”
Police say they recovered video of Joonho Lee beating Hyun.
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“He was overwhelmed with a belt in his genitals and face till he was knocked unconscious,” Boyle wrote. “He was stripped bare and shot with an airsoft gun throughout his physique, inflicting over 100 wounds.”
The lawyer mentioned Hyun escaped with Cho’s physique after he was coerced into wiring tens of 1000’s of {dollars} to South Korea and borrowing cash to purchase a home in Suwanee, one other Gwinnett County suburb, supposed as a church for the group. Boyle says the Lees additionally used Hyun’s bank cards to pay for garments and restaurant meals.
Police mentioned Hyun referred to as a relative after parking the automobile to take him to a hospital. When he requested the relative to return and retrieve a private merchandise, he found the girl’s physique within the trunk and referred to as 911, police mentioned.
Hyun wasn’t taken to the Gwinnett County jail till Sept. 24, officers mentioned. Boyle mentioned he was hospitalized till then and later held within the jail’s medical wing.
“If Eric had not escaped from the Lees’ home, he would have additionally died,” Boyle mentioned. “Eric Hyun is harmless of those costs and I’m assured that he might be cleared of those costs as soon as that investigation is full.”
