The woman who was convicted of conspiring to kill her identical twin sister in 1996 has been recommended for parole by the California Board of Parole, according to the Orange County Register.
Jeen “Gina” Han and two other people were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, burglary and false imprisonment; they bound and gagged Jeen’s twin sister Sunny, along with her roommate, but the two victims were rescued by police. Jeen Han was sentenced to 26 years to life in 1998.
The Han twins were born in Korea; after emigrating to America, they were co-valedictorians at their San Diego County high school. Police, who referred to the two twins as the “evil twin” and the “good twin,” said the two sisters had a history of hostility; Sunny Han helped police mount a theft prosecution against her sister for her involvement in the theft of cash and credit cards from people in the San Diego area.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the co-defendants, Archie Bryant, 18, and John Sayarath, 16, posed as magazine salesmen, thus entering Sunny Han’s apartment where she was in her bedroom. They fought with her roommate, Kim, prompting Sunny Han to call 911 on her cellphone before the men accosted her in her bedroom and bound her.
In a letter opposing the parole of Jeen Han, prosecutors stated, “But for Sunny Han miraculously having a cell phone on her person when Gina Han’s accomplices stormed the apartment, this would have most certainly been a first degree murder, if not a double-homicide.”
Before the attempted murder, Sunny Han punched Jeen in the face and had her arrested for allegedly using her credit cards and taking her BMW.
California Governor Jerry Brown has 120-days to decide whether to accept the parole board’s recommendation. He got a request from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office on Monday to reject the recommendation; they alleged Jeen Han had not dealt with her mental disorder and was still dangerous.
Deputy District Attorney Nikki Chambers pointed out that when she was asked what her plans were if she were paroled, Han supplied letters from various men, many of whom have offered her money, a job, or a place to live. Chambers asserted, “The fact remains that she is still flexing the manipulation muscles that she used when she recruited two young men to murder her sister, and they appear to be as keen as they were in 1996.”