A man who jumped into the sea to live? Was it a choice to get out of the gaslighting noose?

■ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (06:40~06:55, 12:40~12:55, 19:40~19:55)
■ Broadcast Date: November 20, 2024 (Wednesday)
■ Host: Attorney Lee Won-hwa
■ Dialogue: Han Jin-gu Attorney

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Lawyer Lee Won-hwa (hereinafter referred to as Lee Won-hwa): It happened in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do last year. One day in October, a call was received from the Changwon Maritime Police Station. Police immediately went to the scene after receiving the call after receiving a report that a man in his 50s fell into the sea, but unfortunately, the man had already died. At the time, this man thought it was a simple death case because he had been drinking alcohol with the group he was with. But then, an unexpected piece of information is obtained from the Coast Guard. The content was that A, who died, was actually forced to enter the sea under someone's direction. A total of three people were at the scene at the time of the incident, including the deceased A. One of the three, Mr. C, was questioned by the police. The police saw this case as a murder case and considered Mr. B as a prime suspect, so they wanted to hear a related statement from Mr. C. But Mr. C was afraid for a while and couldn't give a proper answer. Why on earth did he do that? And was Mr. A's death really a homicide as the police expected? Let's take a closer look at this case in today's case X file. Hello, I'm Lee Won-hwa, the case X file of lawyer Lee Won-hwa. Today, we are also with lawyer Han Jin-gu of Law Firm Roel. Welcome, lawyer.

◇ Lawyer Han Jin-gu (hereinafter referred to as Han Jin-gu): Yes, hello. I'm lawyer Han Jin-gu of Law Firm.

◆ I also remember this incident. At first, an adult male fell to his death while drinking near the sea. So it was a case where I thought it was a simple accident.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, that's right. On the afternoon of October 11, 2023, a report was received that a man fell into the sea at Mokpo Port in Geoje Island, Gyeongsangnam-do. When the report was received, the rescue team immediately went to the scene, but the man was already dead. The man who died was A, who was in his 60s at the time, while B and C, who were acquaintances of A, were also at the scene. In the initial police investigation, the group stated that drunk A and C jumped into the sea on their own while making a swimming bet and caused an accident.

◆ He drank a lot of alcohol.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Your party drank a lot. From the day before the accident to the moment before the accident, the three people drank as much as 22 bottles of soju. In addition, CCTV footage from nearby at the time showed A and C taking off their clothes and jumping into the water. Also, there was no sign of special trauma to Mr. A, so it was presumed to be a simple drowning accident. However, during the investigation, the Coast Guard gets unexpected information.

◆ [Dualization] What was that intelligence?

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, A and C, who lived in Busan the day before the incident, came to Geoje on B's call, drank all night due to B's coercion, and A's entry into the sea was also due to B's coercion. In addition, it was revealed that Mr. A had been monitored and assaulted by Mr. B, who was eight years younger than him.

◆ [Dualization] I guess it wasn't just a fellowship.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, Mr. C first got to know victim A at Gosiwon and got close. One day, about a year after Mr. A and C got to know each other, Mr. B entered the Gosiwon, and Mr. B approached the two and quickly became close. But one day, B's attitude toward the two suddenly changed. Mr. B identified himself as a member of a gang in the past and began to be coercive toward the two. Mr. B even made the two move according to his instructions. They made him walk a distance that took five hours, imprisoned him in a motel, assaulted him, and listened to him drinking.

◆ There is also a story that they fought each other so that they could hit each other.

◇ Han Jin-gu: I was also surprised that this happened only recently. Mr. B even got into a fight with Mr. A and Mr. C until one fainted, asking them to determine the rank. Also, he took away A's and C's cards in the name of sharing the price of alcohol together. As a result of further investigation, the actual price of alcohol was not much, but the two continued to pay a considerable amount due to Mr. B's lies. In particular, in the case of victim A, B even extorted his basic living expenses.

◆ [Dualization] But you're an adult. I refuse to say no.Or, if I don't think I can do that physically, I think there must have been a way to run away or report it, so I wonder why I couldn't do that.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, I can't help but feel sorry. As I mentioned earlier, it seems that Mr. B told them that he was a member of a gang in the past, threatening and coercing them so that they could not easily resist. And if they did not follow their instructions, it would have been more difficult for the two victims to respond easily by assaulting them in retaliation and threatening them from time to time.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: So was this person named B really in the organization?

◇ Han Jin-gu: It wasn't. According to a police investigation, the criminal B was found to be a person who did not exist in the data genealogy related to gang members. Then, whether Mr. B had lived an exemplary life without committing a crime before this incident was never that. B already had more than 30 criminal convictions before this case. Most of them were convictions related to fraud and habitual fraud. When B ran out of money while moving around in prison, he entered a homeless society. Even in the homeless society, he has been causing a stir with his violent nature and embezzling other homeless people's bank accounts, but it seems that he somehow got into the Gosiwon where the victims were and thought that he should target them and loot them. On the other hand, criminal B assaulted, extorted, and threatened A and C, but on the other hand, he made two people report every move and inspected their mobile phones.

◆ Dualization: You must have known that what you did was not something you should do. So, it seems that they were worried about whether they would report it by checking the text messages and monitoring where they were.

◇ Han Jin-gu: I think you must have recognized that your own actions are a crime, and you must have thought that you could control the victims more reliably while monitoring them like that. Meanwhile, victim A reported to the police regarding the criminal's assault.

◆ Is that so? What happened?

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, victim A reported because he couldn't stand B's assault. However, Mr. B, who found out that he had reported himself by looking at Mr. A's cell phone call details, assaulted and threatened Mr. A again. When victim A saw this, he misunderstood that B was a person who could not easily be used by the police, so his fear of B seemed to have reached its peak. Mr. B especially threatened Mr. A that he was aware of the personal information of all his family members and acquaintances. In the end, Mr. A had no choice but to be very afraid that his family and acquaintances would suffer because of him, and eventually he kept his damage secret.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: That's why these things happened repeatedly when you went out to work as a daily worker and lost this money to Mr. B even though you couldn't work because you were sick.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, that's right. It was found that victim A's health rapidly deteriorated, but he couldn't go to the hospital because he didn't have the hospital fee, and he shaved his head because he didn't have money for a haircut. In addition, it was revealed that he led his sick body to the human resources office every day to pay B back money, and A, who received a call from the criminal the day before the incident, knocked on the door of each room of the Gosiwon and begged him to lend him some money because there was no transportation fee. All of these situations can be attributed to the so-called gaslighting of victim A by criminal B.

◆ [Dualization] So going back to the previous story, he eventually reported that he had gone into the sea and died, but that was not the case.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, that's right. At the time of the incident, three people, A, B, and C, drank all night, moved to Mokpo Port, and continued to drink. The criminal punched the two because he was in a bad mood, and also instructed them to swim in the sea. As a result, the two, who suffered from assault and intimidation for a long time, took off their clothes and tried to enter the sea, and victim A jumped into the sea and lost his life. According to experts, jumping into the sea would have been a choice for survival. The victims would have been afraid of the ensuing assault if they did not follow the instructions, and the fear of the victims' assault at the time of the incident must have been very high.

◆ [Dualization] I think so. As you mentioned earlier, Mr. C, who was also at the scene of the incident, was also a victim of a gas lighting crime, so he could not make a proper statement from the beginning.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, that's right. Mr. C initially stated that the criminal had an accident while making a swimming bet with Mr. A because he was forced not to associate the incident with him. However, the Coast Guard's investigation continued later and the Coast Guard, who obtained intelligence, made Mr. C reveal the truth of the case.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: By the way, did Mr. B, who was identified as the perpetrator, admit his crime?

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, criminal B denied all charges. He argued that there was nothing to do with the incident, saying that there was no imprisonment or assault, no extortion of money, and that he had never instructed the victim to enter the sea on the day of the incident. Meanwhile, the police sent the criminal B to the prosecution on charges of manslaughter, and the prosecution also indicted B on charges of manslaughter. The prosecution reportedly demanded a 10-year prison term for B in the first trial.

◆ Yi Won-hwa: The police must have thought about applying the murder charge on purpose, but it seems that it was not easy.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, the most important thing in order for a murder crime to be established is the intention of murder. Considering the behavior at the time of the incident without considering the series of damage called gas lighting, it is not easy to judge that the criminal's instructions to enter the sea and swim were immediately suspicious of the victim's death. The court in charge of Tongyeong Support at the Changwon District Court, which was in charge of the first trial, sentenced defendant B to eight years in prison for manslaughter. The court said it sentenced the defendant in consideration of the fact that the nature of the crime was poor, such as extorting money or causing drowning due to lack of several confinement while controlling and suppressing the victims for a long time.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: But he handed over all the basic living expenses and the money he earned from his daily job to Mr. B, and he was briefed on what he was doing and where he was. If so, I think there may be room for a protection management relationship to be formed.

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, in this case, it is difficult to say that there is a direct murder of the criminal, so it is necessary to consider the establishment of a murder crime by omission. In order for this to be established, the so-called guarantor status must exist in the criminal due to the protection relationship mentioned. This refers to the legal status that should be protected from infringement of life legal interests. There are a few theoretical cases in which this status is recognized, and this status can also be recognized when the protection relationship you mentioned is formed. Of course, it can be recognized only when there is a close joint relationship with a family member or almost that level.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: I understand that the prosecution has appealed. In the end, I think the key is whether the murder was intentional or not, but what do you think?

◇ Han Jin-gu: Whether you are a criminal or an omission offender, you must recognize that the victim will eventually die and tolerate such a result so that the murder can be admitted, and I think that will lead to stronger punishment for the criminal.

◆ Dualization: Unfortunately, there are more and more cases where victims die due to gas lighting, like today's case. Apart from this, whether it can be recognized as a crime or a legal punishment requirement is another matter. I think the legal part needs to be supplemented, what do you think from the lawyer's point of view?

◇ Han Jin-gu: Yes, as many listeners may have heard of it, we need explicit provisions in the law for criminal punishment. However, in fact, gaslighting, in other words, a series of psychological domination over victims is often not captured in appearance, so I think it is not an easy task to define it in legal literature. However, I think it is necessary to punish gaslighting crimes by stipulating their own objectified standards in the law to prevent any more victims from such gaslighting, and I think social attention to prevent damage in advance is also very important.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: Incident X File Today, we looked at the drowning incident in Mokpo Port, where an adult man drowned in the sea due to gas lighting. That's all we've prepared for today. You all deserve to be defended. Incident X file, thank you everyone.