GUILTY NY - Victor Han for child endangerment, Bear Mountain, 2006

LinasK

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Posted: Friday, 16 June 2006 6:01PM



STONY POINT, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- Knowing that his wife was planning her suicide, a 34-year-old architect stepped out of their minivan on a mountainside above the Hudson River and let her drive over the 300-foot cliff with their two daughters in the back seat, police said Friday.

Hejin Han's death-wish plunge down the side of Bear Mountain on Wednesday was successful; she died at the scene. The children, buckled into their car seats, somehow survived without serious injury.

He did not explain why the girls, 5-year-old Ariana and 3-year-old Itana, were left inside the vehicle.
Police who interrogated Han after his 35-year-old wife's death said he drove her to Bear Mountain State Park, 45 miles north of New York City, on Wednesday knowing she wanted to commit suicide there _ and knowing she had earlier threatened to harm the children.

Detective Sgt. Steven Huff of the state park police said in the criminal complaint that at about 5:30 p.m., Han parked the 2003 Honda Odyssey near the cliff, then got out and walked away.

Park police Col. James Warwick said Hejin Han moved into the driver's seat, shifted the minivan into gear and drove between two of the boulders that are placed along the cliff to keep cars from skidding off.

He said Victor Han ``watched the vehicle go over.'' more at link:http://www.1010wins.com/pages/47380.php
 
How do they know it's as the husband said that his wife committed suicide? Maybe he drove her to do it or maybe he actually did it.
Amy
 
dottierainbow said:
How do they know it's as the husband said that his wife committed suicide? Maybe he drove her to do it or maybe he actually did it.
Amy
The article indicates that three hikers saw the crash and that one of them called the police.
 
It just gets worse everyday. I can't believe that man would stand there and watch his two little girls go over that cliff with their mother when he could have kept that from happening. I'm so relieved that the girls are alright. That is nothing short of a miracle.

I hope that this creep doesn't get to keep those little girls now. He doesn't deserve them for one second. I wonder why he didn't get some kind of help for his wife instead of driving her up there so that she could carry through with her threat. I hope he is charged with a crime. He may as well have placed a gun with 3 bullets in her hand and said "go for it." There must be something LE can find him guilty of. He did participate in his wife's death and no thanks to him that the girls didn't die too. What a father :furious:
 
He had a girlfriend:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/427724p-360622c.html
"During an investigation into the suicide, Victor's co-worker Tiana Yin told police that she had a "romantic relationship" with him.


Victor Han, 34, an architect, visited Yin's Staten Island house once or twice a week, Yin's neighbor Alisa Kravets, 20, said yesterday. "He'll either drop her off and leave or he'll stay for two to three hours," said Kravets, who last saw Han and Yin together three weeks ago at Yin's modest home."




On the plus side, we know that the kid's car seats worked well.
 
Han should be charged with voluntary manslaughter, at least. I agree that he shouldn't have those little girls. It looked like Hejin had some cousins who were taking care of the little girls, so she does have some family who might be willing to take them.
 
englishleigh said:
It looked like Hejin had some cousins who were taking care of the little girls, so she does have some family who might be willing to take them.
This psychiatrist interviewed in this article makes an interesting point which we often forget about:

"The kids are at risk for a whole host of mental, emotional and psychological problems as they go through life," Ferro said. "Who is going to raise them? If they're in the care of someone who has lost an adult child, they could be depressed or disturbed themselves."



http://tinyurl.com/ggy9n
 
On Dan Abram's today it was reported that Victor plans to sue the police department for slandering his name and reputation, and for not giving him food or water for 14 hours.

Poor baby......:boohoo:
 
Bobbisangel said:
It just gets worse everyday. I can't believe that man would stand there and watch his two little girls go over that cliff with their mother when he could have kept that from happening. I'm so relieved that the girls are alright. That is nothing short of a miracle.

I hope that this creep doesn't get to keep those little girls now. He doesn't deserve them for one second. I wonder why he didn't get some kind of help for his wife instead of driving her up there so that she could carry through with her threat. I hope he is charged with a crime. He may as well have placed a gun with 3 bullets in her hand and said "go for it." There must be something LE can find him guilty of. He did participate in his wife's death and no thanks to him that the girls didn't die too. What a father :furious:

According to Sabal's link, he is charged with several crimes:

Victor Han has been charged with promoting a suicide attempt, two counts of reckless endangerment — all felonies — and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

More comments from the psychologist:

A person who has a romantic relationship with an outsider might be more unconsciously amenable to helping a spouse commit suicide as a way to resolve his or her own emotional conflict, he said.

"What we could see is that when people hear about an individual being suicidal, there's a sense of disbelief, that it can't happen, it's not going to happen, the day is beautiful, we just had a nice event happen, she's here with her children, this isn't not going to happen," Tarle said. "The other position is people can get burned out taking care of a chronically unhappy person, especially if they're not getting treatment. You get a sense that life must move on and they get less vigilant about a partner that may be having those kinds of thoughts."

Tarle said a person who involves children in a suicide attempt could be working from any number of premises, but suggested three: a person who feels they cannot leave the children behind because they are too small to be left on their own and who feels the family will all meet again in heaven; a person who feels the world is such a bad place that they want to save their children from it or from growing up in a world without a parent; or a person who is so angry at another person that they are willing to harm what the other person most values, including the children.
-------------------------
The younger daughter, especially, could be at a bigger risk of emotional damage than her older sister because a 3-year-old's world is so closely tied to parents. An older child is more familiar with relatives and may have friends and teachers to interact with; a 3-year-old often has only the parental tie, he said.
------------------------
"The biggest tragedy is this poor lady (apparently) didn't go for treatment," he said.
 
I'm sorry, but this story still doesn't make sense. The husband's version doesn't sit right with me. I think there's more to come. Who the hell would act this way and let his children be endangered?
 
Evidently, prior to the suicide, she received a cell phone call which greatly upset her. I wonder if the call was from Victor's mistress? She and Victor fought, she became distraught and began threatening suicide, which she had done before. In anger and mounting frustration, he parked his car in a precarious position and called her bluff (poor choice of words, I know...), perhaps saying, "Go ahead, kill yourself!" He began walking away, and she drove over the cliff. He probably didn't think she would follow through with her threats. He had a mistress, so he was probably disillusioned with his wife and marriage. He had started his own business and perhaps had financial pressures as well. So sad, but I agree that her decision to take her kids with her takes it to a whole other level. I think it shows the depth of her despair.
 
southerngirl said:
On Dan Abram's today it was reported that Victor plans to sue the police department for slandering his name and reputation, and for not giving him food or water for 14 hours.

Poor baby......:boohoo:
Send him to Guantanamo.
 
Eoanthropus Dawsoni said:
This psychiatrist interviewed in this article makes an interesting point which we often forget about:

"The kids are at risk for a whole host of mental, emotional and psychological problems as they go through life," Ferro said. "Who is going to raise them? If they're in the care of someone who has lost an adult child, they could be depressed or disturbed themselves."



http://tinyurl.com/ggy9n



As a parent who lost an adult child through murder and has also raised my grandaughter I kind of take offense to that statement. Most of the kids do end up with relatives whether it is the grandparents or the deceased parent's siblings. The children need to be with family that they are familiar with. Family who can talk to them about the parent that died when they want to talk or look at pictures, etc. Each person has to be looked at individually. Of course when you lose an adult child you go through all of the stages of grief and you mourn that loss. It doesn't mean that you can't help the children or child too and be there for them. Resources are plenty when something like this happens and you can both go into therapy. It can work....I know. It isn't easy and sometimes the years can be long and rough but I still feel that my granddaughter was best off with me and her aunts and uncle. There isn't a child anywhere that is going to come through something like this without any emotional scars. Excuse me but I get a little touchy sometimes :)
 
Bobbisangel said:
As a parent who lost an adult child through murder and has also raised my grandaughter I kind of take offense to that statement. Most of the kids do end up with relatives whether it is the grandparents or the deceased parent's siblings. The children need to be with family that they are familiar with. Family who can talk to them about the parent that died when they want to talk or look at pictures, etc. Each person has to be looked at individually. Of course when you lose an adult child you go through all of the stages of grief and you mourn that loss. It doesn't mean that you can't help the children or child too and be there for them. Resources are plenty when something like this happens and you can both go into therapy. It can work....I know. It isn't easy and sometimes the years can be long and rough but I still feel that my granddaughter was best off with me and her aunts and uncle. There isn't a child anywhere that is going to come through something like this without any emotional scars. Excuse me but I get a little touchy sometimes :)


I agree with you. I don't think the father should ever have the girls because let's face it. He wanted to be rid of the first wife and the kids so he could move on to number two and begin a new family with her. However, I think the kids would be safe with the wife's family.
 
Stunned friends try to make sense of van-plunge tragedy

By MAUREEN SEABERG and NICOLE BODE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS To see the smiling pictures, to talk with worshipers at their tight-knit congregation, the Hans of Staten Island seemingly were an idyllic young family.


At the church where Victor and Hejin Han met and wed, and where their daughters were baptized, parishioners were reeling from shock yesterday at the van plunge that left the mother dead, the father behind bars and the girls' future in shambles.

"They were a happy family, they are always happy," said Young Young, 61, who attended the wedding and both Baptisms at the Korean American Presbyterian Church of Queens in Flushing. "It was very perfect."

The "perfect" public image belied the couple's growing marital turmoil - sparked by Hejin Han's discovery of her husband's alleged affair with a co-worker - which culminated in her harrowing suicide plunge down Bear Mountain last week. A distraught Han, 35, drove off a 300-foot precipice - with daughters Ariana, now 5, and 3-year-old Etana strapped in the backseat - after her husband stepped out, cops said.

She had been threatening to take her own life, her husband told investigators. Friends said the devoted wife went ballistic after receiving a mystery phone call en route to Bear Mountain, and argued with her husband. more at link:http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/427925p-360819c.html
 
They don't want to lose 'son,' too: kin

BY NICOLE BODE and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A distraught dad charged in his wife's minivan death plunge off Bear Mountain was released from jail yesterday, desperate to reunite with his two young daughters who survived the 300-foot drop.

In a stunning twist, Victor Han's in-laws have invited him to join his children for dinner at their Brooklyn home, even though he's accused of promoting the suicide of the daughter they grieve for, his sister said.

"They lost a daughter, they don't want to lose [a] son. That's how close they are," Ki Han said of her brother's in-laws, Yenk Yu and Soon Hee Baek.

As a condition of his release, Han, 34, of Staten Island was ordered to undergo 72 hours of psychiatric evaluation. He was being examined at the Robert Yeager Health Center in Pomona, Rockland County, last night. "He lost his wife and he's been blamed for something that wasn't even his fault," added Ki Han, who posted $100,000 bond to spring her brother. "Everyone is behind him."

Ki Han contends her brother was coerced by state police into making statements that got him charged with promoting a suicide attempt, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of his children.



Detectives interviewed one of Han's co-workers, Tiana Yin, who admitted they were having an affair. His wife apparently learned of the relationship. In April, Yin was arrested in Queens for allegedly taking a swing at a cop during a parking lot fracas. She received a summons for disorderly conduct, records show.

But Han's sister called the rap "ridiculous." "When they interviewed him, he'd had no sleep, no food, his children were hurt, he was hysterical," Ki Han said. "He didn't say those things." more at link:http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/428130p-361039c.html
 
I don't know. Maybe he didn't believe she would ever drive off the cliff with their children. Maybe she decided to do it right then and and there and take the kids with her to punish him. There are those who live with people that make constant threats of suicide. Maybe he thought that this too would blow over. Perhaps he had no idea that she would really ever kill herself because he became apathetic toward her rantings, ravings and threats.

There are many dynamics at play here. Suicide leaves so many unanswered questions. Perhaps she was another mom suffering through postpartum depression.

Her mother and father have invited him over for dinner and to see his daughters. Maybe they, too, knew she was a ticking time bomb. Maybe this whole thing could have been unforeseen and happened spur of the moment.

I will say a prayer for these two little girls.
 
From June 2007:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19072001/...bation-wifes-suicide-car-plunge/#.VfkK8bT8FWY

A man accused of standing by while his wife drove herself and their two daughters off a 300-foot cliff was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation in a plea deal...

Victor Han pleaded guilty in March to child endangerment in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of promoting suicide and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors have acknowledged that the suicide case would have been difficult to prove.
 
OkieGranny---thank you for doing all of these follow ups for us. It is a lot of work, and is really appreciated.
 

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