‘Good Twin’ Tells Jurors of Attack

Twin sisters Jeen and Sunny Han, co-valedictorians in high school, faced each other in court Monday, as Sunny calmly recounted a stormy relationship which prosecutors say culminated in a plot by Jeen to kill her.

Jeen Han, dubbed the “evil twin” by police, is charged with conspiring with two teenage boys to murder Sunny, 23, last November. The three defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, face 25 years to life if convicted.

Testifying for the first time in Orange County Superior Court, Sunny Han said she had slept until 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 and was taking a shower when she heard roommate Helen Kim yell, “Please don’t hurt me. Take anything you want.”

Sunny said she managed to call 911 from the bathroom before one of the assailants discovered her.

She identified defendant Archie Bryant, 17, as the person with a gun who bound and gagged the two women before police arrived. She testified that he told her, “Shut up, don’t say anything. Otherwise, I’ll have to kill you or shoot you.”

Sunny said she did not see the face of another assailant she believes was in the apartment. John Sayarth, 17, is charged with being the other attacker.

Bryant, she testified, asked her to tell police “it was a big joke. Nothing happened. We were just playing games.”

Irvine police said Jeen wanted her sister dead so she could assume Sunny’s identity and escape a past which included credit card fraud. In opening arguments last week, prosecutor Bruce Moore stressed the feuding between the two women as a motive for murder.

Defense attorneys attempted to show that the two sisters often argued, and that what happened that day was a misguided, angry outburst rather than a murder plot.

Jeen had enlisted the help of her two co-defendants to retrieve her clothing from Sunny’s Irvine apartment, Public Defender Roger Alexander said. Jeen feared her sister, who once had hit her in the face, he said.

“They both loved each other, yet they had these wild fights,” Alexander said outside the courtroom.

Sunny acknowledged that the two sisters bit, scratched and fought with each other, but said they still were close.

“We’re sisters,” she testified. “We fight.”

Although Sunny Han barely looked at her twin during her 1 1/2 hours of testimony, she did flash a quick smile to her as the proceedings began.

Jeen, dressed in black pants and black shirt, her head down, took frequent notes.

Alexander led Sunny to recount one fight which left Jeen with a bloody nose.

“At some point, in the kitchen, I don’t know if I hit her with the phone or punched her in the face,” Sunny recalled. “But I did hit her.”

Sunny, whom police have dubbed the “good twin,” also acknowledged having committed credit card fraud. She said she used a friend’s credit card without permission and was prosecuted.

In other testimony, a Ralphs grocery store manager testified that Jeen purchased twine, duct tape and rubber gloves on the day of the alleged attack.

But, Alexander countered, “It doesn’t point to conspiracy to kill somebody.”