Background
The Han twins were born in South Korea in April 1974, but lived apart until they were three years old. Their mother, Boo I. Kim, took them to Orange County when they were twelve years old. She worked as a cocktail waitress, but was also a compulsive gambler, leaving the twins alone for days at a time while she went away on gambling trips. The sisters, having nobody else around, developed a strong bond in order to cope. Unable to care for them, in 1990, Boo Kim sent them to live with an uncle and aunt in Campo, a California city near the United States-Mexico border. Both girls did well there and excelled in school, graduating from high school as co-valedictorians. They both worked in restaurants for a time, and then Sunny went on to the University of La Verne on a scholarship. Jeena continued working at a restaurant, and to earn money for college, she decided to become a U.S. citizen and join the Air Force. The two grew apart, however, and spoke only once or twice by phone during the following year.
Stunned by the rigors of Air Force recruit training, Jeena tried to leave under the pretense that her father was ill, and when that ruse failed, she tried claiming to be a lesbian. The Air Force finally relented and released her. In the meantime, Sunny, having failing grades for three school semesters, had her scholarship revoked, dropped out of college and began working as a receptionist. Jeena worked in a casino in Lakeside, California as a blackjack dealer and became a gambling addict herself, going into heavy debt, and in January 1996 attempted suicide. To repay her debts, Jeena stole credit cards and personal checks from friends and family, for purposes of forgery. Subsequently, she was arrested, and later skipped out on her probation.
Jeena moved back to Orange County to live with Sunny. The two had arguments, and Jeena once stole Sunny's car. During a physical argument in May 1996, Sunny hit Jeena, breaking her nose. The police responded to four disturbances, and at one of them, arrested Sunny on an outstanding warrant for credit card theft. Sunny reportedly had stolen a friend's card and gone on a shopping spree, justifying it by saying her friend wouldn't mind because her friend was rich. While Sunny was in jail, Jeena stole Sunny's car, credit cards, ID, and savings. She earned money by charging high priced electronics with Sunny's credit cards and pawning them with the packages still unopened. After release, Sunny pressed charges and Jeena was put in jail, with Sunny refusing to help her. Jeena was convicted of a felony and sentenced to six months and put on a work furlough, but she skipped out on that as well.
For the next 6 months, the two met only once and Jeena refused to repay Sunny for her losses. Around October 1996, while going to Orange County from San Diego, Jeena told travelling companions that she wanted to hurt or kill Sunny, offering them money and asking how to obtain a gun. After another trip from San Diego and locating Sunny's residence in Irvine, Jeena asked several acquaintances and strangers if they would help her beat up or kill her sister. No agreement was ever reached, so nothing transpired.
Read more about this topic: Han Twins Murder Conspiracy
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