A teenager is among six ‘Soldiers of Christ’ group members charged with murder, after the beaten and starved body of a female was found inside the trunk of a car.
Officers had been called to the carpark of a Korean spa in Duluth, Georgia, on Tuesday night after the discovery of a body in the trunk.
The victim, according to police, was starved and beaten for three weeks at a property in Lawrenceville before she eventually died.
Following a raid on the property, detectives said they believe the basement of the home to be where the crime took place.
After the discovery, detectives charged six individuals with murder, Eric Hyun, 26, Gawom Lee, 26, Joonho Lee, 26, Juoonhyum Lee, 22, Hyunji Lee, 25, and 15-year-old Junyeoug Lee.
Officers had been called to the carpark of a Korean spa in Georgia on Tuesday night after the discovery of a body in the trunk
Police said they believe that Eric Hyun, pictured here, was the driver of the silver car that contained the victim
After the discovery of the body and a subsequent search of a property, police arrested and charged six individuals – five of whom are pictured above
According to police, the group are part of a religious group known as the Soldiers of Christ.
They also said they believe the victim moved to the United States from South Korea sometime back in summer of this year for the purposes of joining a religious organization.
The woman’s body weighed just 70 pounds when she was found, with death notifications yet to be made to her family in South Korea.
As well as the murder charge, the group have also been charged with false imprisonment, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another.
Images shared by police show the basement where they believe the beatings to have taken place, a large area has been redacted due to blood.
Police said they believe that Eric Hyun was the driver of the silver car that contained the victim.
After leaving it outside of the spa, he is said to have called a family member to pick him up.
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The family member then drove him to a Atlanta area hospital due to unrelated injuries and while at the hospital Eric asked the relative to retrieve a personal item from the car.
When the family member returned, they discovered the body of the victim in the trunk of the car.
The investigation resulted in a search warrant for a Lawrenceville home that police said has ties to Hyun.
The group have been charged with false imprisonment, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another. Pictured: The basement where police say the crime happened
At a press conference, Cpl. Juan Mdiedo said: ‘That search warrant yielded substantial evidence to charge the individuals for the crime.
‘During the course of the investigation, it is believed that the basement [of that address] is where the crime took place.
‘Detectives believe that the victim was brought over from South Korea sometime in the summer under the guise of joining a religious organization.
‘They called themselves ‘Soldiers of Christ.
Due to the body’s decomposed state, investigators couldn’t initially identify the victim’s gender, police told WSB-TV.
The Korean spa near the scene where the body was discovered said in a statement: ‘The police have confirmed that this incident is in no way related to the sauna.
‘We are sorry for the victim and her family.’
All are being held without bond. It was unknown if any of them had an attorney who could speak on their behalf. Jail records do not list a lawyer’s name and they were not yet listed in Gwinnett County online court records.
A police spokesperson said Friday that investigators believe they have arrested everyone who is involved and are not looking into Soldiers of Christ any further.
