Anaheim Man Shoots Friend In Surrogate Suicide: Court

It has been seven years since he pulled the trigger, but the circumstances of why have brought his case back to the Fourth District Court of Appeals. Beong Kwun Cho, 58 of Anaheim, may have been part of a complicated plan to help a friend commit assisted suicide.

Cho, a legal Korean immigrant now on an expired work visa, will be deported when his sentence is complete, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons.

Cho is serving a 10-year-prison term that he seeks to further reduce, based upon new information.

On Jan. 24 of 2011, Cho's friend Yeon Woo Lee "prodded him over an 18-month period to help him commit surrogate suicide.

"Lee devised a complicated scenario to make his death look like a robbery or an accident, and he purchased a gun" for Cho to use, the Fourth District Court of Appeal justices said on Monday.

Lee put his plan in motion, but when Cho hesitated, Lee said that he raped Cho's wife and intended to rape Cho's daughter, then Cho pulled the trigger. Cho's wife testified that Lee forced her to have sex with him three times, Simmons said.

Cho, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter July 21, 2016, could have faced up to 21 years in prison or as little as six years behind bars.

Former Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals, who is now a Fourth District Court of Appeal justice, decided on the middle term in September 2016.

The justices ruled that a new law gives judges discretion to strike a sentencing enhancement for use of a gun in a manslaughter. The justices ordered Cho be given another sentencing hearing in light of the new law.

This is a developing story. More information will be added as it is released. Please refresh this page for the latest updates.

Shutterstock Photo