Death of Joanna Lee: Difference between revisions
→Background: Biographical details |
→Background: typo |
||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
Luke Lee (born {{circa}} 1963) was a South Korean national who had converted to Christianity about the time he entered New Zealand on a student visa in 1994. On returning to South Korea to "face his past", he served a prison sentence there for fraud and defaulting on [[Conscription in South Korea|military service]]. When he returned to New Zealand in 1999 he became a pastor with the [[Assembly of God]] and established his own church, Lord of All.<ref name="Yandall">{{cite news |last1=Yandall |first1=Paul |title=Evil spirit: death and the exorcist |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/evil-spirit-death-and-the-exorcist/45VETEYY6KYA6S3QOWPSHZGKBE/ |work=NZ Herald |date=5 December 2001 |language=en-NZ}}</ref> Lee's church was estimated to have about 30-50 members.<ref name="revive" /> |
Luke Lee (born {{circa}} 1963) was a South Korean national who had converted to Christianity about the time he entered New Zealand on a student visa in 1994. On returning to South Korea to "face his past", he served a prison sentence there for fraud and defaulting on [[Conscription in South Korea|military service]]. When he returned to New Zealand in 1999 he became a pastor with the [[Assembly of God]] and established his own church, Lord of All.<ref name="Yandall">{{cite news |last1=Yandall |first1=Paul |title=Evil spirit: death and the exorcist |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/evil-spirit-death-and-the-exorcist/45VETEYY6KYA6S3QOWPSHZGKBE/ |work=NZ Herald |date=5 December 2001 |language=en-NZ}}</ref> Lee's church was estimated to have about 30-50 members.<ref name="revive" /> |
||
Few details are known about the early life of Joanna Lee (no relation to Luke Lee). She was described as having suffered personal problems such as the divorce of her parents, several |
Few details are known about the early life of Joanna Lee (no relation to Luke Lee). She was described as having suffered personal problems such as the divorce of her parents, several suicide attempts, and a [[vitiligo|skin affliction]].<ref name="Hall" /><ref name="revive" /> She first met Luke Lee in South Korea in 1999 and decided to visit him in New Zealand. Having been accepted into the Lord of All sect, she flew to Auckland in October 2000 on a three-month visitor permit with a return ticket.<ref name="Yandall" /><ref name="Devereux">{{cite news |last1=Devereux |first1=Monique |last2=Yandall |first2=Paul |title=Exorcist 'pastor' jailed for six years on manslaughter |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/exorcist-pastor-jailed-for-six-years-on-manslaughter/HJXHIB37XNWRVWVESMAXQAKESM/ |work=NZ Herald |date=20 December 2001}}</ref> |
||
==Fatal exorcism== |
==Fatal exorcism== |
||
Revision as of 02:28, 6 September 2022
 | A request that this article title be changed to Killing of Joanna Lee is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Joanna Lee (also known as Keum Ok Lee) (c. 1963 – 9 December 2000)[a] was a Korean woman who died in December 2000 in Auckland, New Zealand, during a prolonged and violent exorcism carried out by Luke Lee (also known as Yong Bum Lee), pastor of "Lord of All", a small Christian sect.[2][3] In 2001, Pastor Lee was convicted of her manslaughter. In 2006, his conviction was quashed by New Zealand's Court of Appeal, by which stage Lee had already been deported to South Korea.[4][5]
Background
Luke Lee (born c. 1963) was a South Korean national who had converted to Christianity about the time he entered New Zealand on a student visa in 1994. On returning to South Korea to "face his past", he served a prison sentence there for fraud and defaulting on military service. When he returned to New Zealand in 1999 he became a pastor with the Assembly of God and established his own church, Lord of All.[6] Lee's church was estimated to have about 30-50 members.[7]
Few details are known about the early life of Joanna Lee (no relation to Luke Lee). She was described as having suffered personal problems such as the divorce of her parents, several suicide attempts, and a skin affliction.[3][7] She first met Luke Lee in South Korea in 1999 and decided to visit him in New Zealand. Having been accepted into the Lord of All sect, she flew to Auckland in October 2000 on a three-month visitor permit with a return ticket.[6][2]
Fatal exorcism
In early December 2000, Pastor Lee determined that Joanna Lee was possessed by "at least 20 demons". On 8 December, Pastor Lee began the exorcism at a hall rented by his church in Auckland. The following day the exorcism moved to his rental home in the suburb of Mount Roskill.[2] Over the next six hours, in the presence of a small group of worshippers, he sat on her chest and abdomen, "bounced" on her body, broke several bones, and finally strangled her with his hands.[8] Pastor Lee later said he was "not sure" that Joanna had died, and instructed his followers to videotape her corpse to document her expected resuscitation.[7] Her decomposing body was found by police in Pastor's Lee's home on 15 December, after a visitor to the house raised the alarm. She had been dead for one week.[9]
No friends or relatives could be contacted to claim Lee's body or make funeral arrangements.[4] In mid-2001, the Auckland Korean community performed a Christian funeral service for her and her body was cremated. As of late 2001 her ashes were still unclaimed.[citation needed]
Trial and appeal
Pastor Lee was subsequently charged with manslaughter in relation to Joanna Lee's death.[10] He represented himself in court and took little part in the trial, speaking only to deliver a closing message.[11][4] However, he predicted that Joanna Lee would "rise from the dead" during his trial.[12][13] In December 2001 he was found guilty and sentenced to six years imprisonment.[2] In January 2005, he was deported from New Zealand, at which time he was in the process of appealing his conviction. In April 2006, the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction and ordered a retrial.[1] The Court stated that Joanna Lee's possible consent to the exorcism had not been properly considered during the first trial.[5][14] However, as Pastor Lee and most of the surviving witnesses had left New Zealand, Crown prosecutors determined it would be difficult to arrange a retrial.[1] A bench warrant was issued for Lee's arrest should he return to New Zealand, at which point a retrial may take place.[4]
Notes
References
- ^ a b c Houlahan, Mike (12 April 2006). "Exorcism preacher's manslaughter conviction overturned". NZ Herald.
- ^ a b c d Devereux, Monique; Yandall, Paul (20 December 2001). "Exorcist 'pastor' jailed for six years on manslaughter". NZ Herald.
- ^ a b Hall, Helen (August 2016). "Exorcism, Religious Freedom and Consent: The Devil in the Detail" (PDF). The Journal of Criminal Law. 80 (4): 241–253. doi:10.1177/0022018316657950.
- ^ a b c d Kavan, Heather (August 2007). "The Korean exorcist meets the New Zealand Justice system" (PDF). Aotearoa Ethnic Network Journal. 2 (2): 53–58 – via Massey University.
- ^ a b Palmer, Rebecca (28 July 2009). "The devil's in the detail". Stuff.
- ^ a b Yandall, Paul (5 December 2001). "Evil spirit: death and the exorcist". NZ Herald.
- ^ a b c "Pastor tried to revive corpse by blowing on it". NZ Herald. 1 December 2001.
- ^ "He's guilty in exorcism strangling". Philadelphia Daily News. 6 December 2001. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pastor to answer manslaughter charge". NZ Herald. 12 June 2001.
- ^ "Pastor charged with manslaughter after exorcism death". Irish Examiner. 20 January 2001.
- ^ Stickley, Tony; Yandall, Paul (7 December 2001). "Demonic life of Pastor Lee". NZ Herald.
- ^ "Self Styled Minister Convicted of Manslaughter in NZ". Chosun Ilbo. 6 December 2001.
- ^ Stickley, Tony (5 December 2001). "Pastor seeks 'more time' for a miracle". NZ Herald.
- ^ "R v Lee CA437/04 [2006]". Court of Appeal of New Zealand. 7 April 2006 – via New Zealand Legal Information Institute.