Men to Be Tried in Exorcism Death

Three men accused of killing a South Korean woman during an exorcism ritual, including an official of a Glendale church, were ordered Wednesday to stand trial for murder.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, West Los Angeles Municipal Judge Robert Altman ruled there is enough evidence to try the three--Jae Whoa Chung, 49, husband of the dead woman, Jin Hyun Choi, 46, deacon of Glendale Korean Presbyterian Church, and Sung Soo Choi, 41, a Korean missionary who was visiting Los Angeles when the exorcism took place.

A coroner’s autopsy determined that Kyung Jae Chung, 53, was killed July 4 by “multiple blunt force trauma” during an exorcism involving her husband and the two other men. The two-day ritual began in a Koreatown home, then was moved to a Century City condominium, authorities said.

Police said the victim consented to the exorcism, and the men used their bare hands and feet in an attempt to rid her body of evil spirits.

Defense attorney Christopher Lee, who represents the victim’s husband, argued unsuccessfully that the murder charge should be reduced to manslaughter.

“The evidence warranted the prosecution for involuntary manslaughter only, nothing more,” Lee said. He described it as “not a case of premeditated malice,” but an instance in which the defendants may have “disregarded the likelihood of injury or threat to her life.”

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 29.