Two suspects in the murder of Hollister’s Yoon Ji are set to face the start of a jury trial later this month 19 months after authorities found the victim’s body stuffed in a suitcase.
Jung Choi and Sang Ji are set to appear for their jury trial to start at 8:30 a.m. July 22 in Courtroom 3 of the San Benito County Courthouse, according to records. Before that, they will appear for a trial confirmation at 1:30 p.m. this Friday before Judge Steven Sanders in the same courtroom.
The victim’s husband Ji and his alleged mistress Choi have been charged with the homicide and remain in custody at the county jail on more than $2 million in bail each.
For the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, which is overseeing the investigation, the case started Dec. 2 of 2017 when one of the two daughters – Serena Ji – contacted authorities from Los Angeles where she lives to report her mother as missing after not hearing from her since Nov. 27. On the day before, the daughter had received “an odd message from her father, Sang Ji, stating her mother went to South Korea unexpectedly,” according to a prior sheriff’s office statement.
Afterward, Serena Ji filed the missing person’s report on her mother. The sheriff’s office issued a search warrant and served it on Dec. 6 of that year. JI and Choi were arrested and booked in the San Benito County Jail on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
On Dec. 20 of 2017, authorities discovered Yoon Ji’s body buried in a ravine in the 2300 block of Salinas Grade Road near San Juan Bautista with the remains stuffed in a suitcase.
