Not Guilty Verdict in Dale City Murder Trial

A Prince William County Circuit Court jury has ruled that a man accused of killing his uncle for a $1 million life insurance policy is not guilty of the crime. 

After a three day trial, the jury of five women and seven men found late Wednesday that Ho Young Jun, 28, was not guilty on the charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. 

Ho Young Jun's father, Jung Min Jun, pleaded guilty in November to the 2011 murder of Kwang Sup Hur, at Hur's residence in the River Run Senior Apartments in Dale City. Ho Young Jun's mother, Jung Ok Jun, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice last year. Prosecutors accused Ho Young Jun of being an accomplice in order to benefit from the insurance policy on Hur's life—which Ho Young Jun owned. 

"It was clear in this case that his father did it," defense counsel Olaun Simmons told the jury Wednesday, during closing arguments. "He admitted to you that he did it. He also admitted to you that his son was not involved."

Trial, Day One: Murder Trial Centers on Alleged Father-Son Conspiracy

Virginia law allows a conviction based on circumstantial evidence, which the prosecution tried to use to build its case.

"The fact that the defendant was not present during the killing doesn't matter," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney James Willett, during closing arguments. "He doesn't have to be there."

Willett pointed to the fact that Ho Young Jun had shared a cab with his father on the morning of Sept. 1, 2011, as the father was on his way down to Virginia. Ho Young Jun had also continued to pay $2500 premiums each month while taking in a salary of $3000 a month, and changed the policy beneficiary from Hur's wife to himself.

Another crucial piece of evidence for the prosecution was Ho Young Jun's own admission that he told the police, incorrectly, that Jung Min Jun was home on the night of the murder. After a Prince William County detective told the young man that cell phone data showed his father was in Virginia, Ho Young Jun lied to investigators, saying that Jung Min Jun had put him up to lying. 

Trial, Day Two: Confessed Killer: My Son Didn't Conspire in Murder

While prosecutors tried to establish this as evidence of guilt, Ho Young Jun said that he originally thought his father was at home. Then, when police presented him with contrary evidence, he admitted he was wrong. 

During his closing argument, Simmons pointed to a lack of any direct evidence: no emails, no phone calls, no record of any type of conversation between Ho Young Jun and his father. 

"Where is the communication between these two men?" Simmons asked rhetorically. "Ho Young cooperated with the investigation."