6 ‘Soldiers of Christ’ members charged with murder of malnourished South Korean woman in US
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(Clockwise from top left) Eric Hyun, Gawom Lee, Joonho Lee, Juoonhyum Lee and Hyunji Lee referred to themselves as belonging to the religious organisation “Soldiers of Christ”. A 15-year-old teen was also involved.
PHOTOS: GWINNETT COUNTY POLICE/FACEBOOK
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Six people, including a teenager, from a religious organisation in the United States have been charged with the murder of a South Korean woman.
The woman’s body was found in a car’s boot parked outside Jeju Sauna, a popular South Korean spa in Duluth, which is about 40km north of Atlanta, said the Gwinnett County Police Department in a statement on Thursday.
Her identity has not been revealed yet. But the woman was said to be in her 20s or 30s, according to various US news outlets.
The suspects referred to themselves as belonging to the religious organisation “Soldiers of Christ”, the police added. They are Eric Hyun, 26, of Suwanee, Georgia; and Gawom Lee, 26; Joonho Lee, 26; Juoonhyum Lee, 22; Hyunji Lee, 25; and a 15-year-old, who are from Lawrenceville, Georgia.
They are facing charges of felony murder, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another. Each of them also faces multiple gang-related charges, said the police in an update on Friday.
The woman’s body was burned and wrapped in a blanket, according to arrest warrants, reported NBC News on Saturday.
She weighed about 32kg when she was found by detectives on Tuesday and “apparently subjected to beatings and malnourishment for weeks”, said the police.
“The Medical Examiner’s Office believes malnourishment could be a contributing factor to her death,” the police added.
It is unclear when the woman died, but police believe that she had been starving since Aug 3, reported CBS News on Friday. The cause of her death is now under investigation.
Detectives believe that the victim moved to the United States from South Korea some time in summer in 2023 to join the religious organisation, said the police.
The suspects are being held without bond, according to various US news outlets.
Several of the suspects are siblings, reported NBC News. There are no other suspects involved in the case, said the police.
One of the suspects is a South Korean citizen visiting the US on a visa, said the authorities in a CNN report on Friday. The other suspects are American citizens, added the report. It is not clear which suspect is the South Korean citizen.
Nearly a quarter of Duluth’s population is Asian, according to the US Census Bureau.
The police said detectives believe that Hyun was the driver of the car that contained the woman’s body.
Hyun had called a family member to pick him up after he parked the car near Jeju Sauna on Tuesday, according to the police. It is not clear who the family member is.
The family member then drove Hyun to a hospital in the area due to unrelated injuries, said the police. While Hyun was at the hospital, he asked the family member to retrieve a personal item for him from the car. That was when the family member found the woman’s body in the car boot. The family member then called the police.
The investigation later resulted in a search warrant for a Lawrenceville home, which police said was associated with Hyun. Crime scene investigators and detectives later processed evidence found at the home. Detectives believe that the crime took place in the basement of the home, said the police.
