The Misery Machine - The Case of Yun Mi Hoy

Starting point is 00:00:00 Yunmi Ho was born on December 17, 1965, in Kunson, South Korea, to mother Elizabeth Ho. She had two brothers, Peter Ho and Ken Ho, one sister, Juni Ashford, as well as a nephew, Zachary, and two nieces, Monet and Renee. The whole family were Jehovah's witnesses and lightly moved to Colorado in the early 1970s, after the 1965 immigration lot had opened up new opportunities for Koreans to immigrate to the U.S. While religion was a big part of Yunmi's life, she also had a passion for photography. She co-owned a photography business with her ex-husband called Bella's Portrait Studio and worked very hard to maintain it, often taking on 12-hour shifts. Although Yunmi had lived in the U.S. from a young age, she never forgot her heritage and was a huge fan of Korean fashion, pop culture, and music.

Starting point is 00:00:53 She particularly loved the Korean boy band, YJ, and made regular posts about them on Facebook. You and me also married two times. She was married to her first husband, Robert Guzman, in 1989, but they divorced in 2000. The couple had one daughter together, Isabella Guzman. She married Ryan Hoy in the year 2000. In 2005, they moved into their family home located at 2624, South Lima Street in Aurora, Colorado. Isabella Yunmee Guzman was born on June 1, 1995. She looked a lot like her mother who also had long dark straight hair and dark brown eyes.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Isabella liked singing, makeup, and Hello Kitty. She once posted a photo on Facebook of her singing on a stage wearing a Hello Kitty sweatshirt. Looking at the photo, you wouldn't think she was anything other than a sweet and innocent teenage girl. Isabella was what people might call a problem child. From an early age, she had behavioral issues that her mother struggled to cope with, and for years, Yunmi expressed concerns over Isabella's bad behavior. However, other family members only ever thought of Isabella as affectionate and loving. Isabella would later claim her mom abused her throughout her childhood.

Starting point is 00:02:11 The exact details of Isabella's behavioral problems have never been revealed, but we know it got so bad that Yunmi sent her daughter to live with her father, Robert Guzman, permanently when she was just seven years old. However, Isabella eventually ended up back in her mother's life. father's care. Isabella's teenage years were an even bigger struggle for you and me. At 14 years old, she abandoned her faith and according to relatives, is said to have yelled and screamed when things did not go her way. Isabella didn't perform well in school and is rumored to have attended three different high schools, Gateway High School, Rangeview High School, and Overland High School. It isn't known

Starting point is 00:02:50 why she may have attended so many schools, but it most likely had something to do with her behavioral issues. Isabella eventually dropped out of high school early, and at age 18, she was living at home with her mom and stepfather and had no job besides occasionally helping out at her mom's photography studio. Isabella also had multiple boyfriends who would all together jump over the Hoy's fence to visit her. This resulted in a few police reports from neighbors concerned for the teenage girl's safety. Ryan Hoy would later tell police that Isabella's behavior toward her mom was becoming more threatening and disrespectful every day. Outsiders of the Hoy household, Isabella was just a typical and rebellious teenager, but in reality,

Starting point is 00:03:31 mother-daughter conflict was so bad that you and me had become terrified of her own daughter, and pled with her husband to sleep in Isabella's room so she wouldn't have to sleep with one eye open. We'll be back in just one minute. Please stick around for the following ad. It not only supports the channel, but it also supports charities in our area.

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Starting point is 00:04:49 On Tuesday, August 27th, the pair had a heated argument that ended with Isabella spitting in her mom's face. Isabella would later describe this fight as terrible and claimed that it left me with scars on my hands. The next morning, Yunmi received an email from her daughter that simply read, You will pay. Knowing her daughter's violent past, Yunmi took the threat seriously and called police. Officers arrived that same afternoon, but didn't take the situation seriously at all. Thinking they were there to give a brady teenager a reality check,

Starting point is 00:05:21 They just told Isabella that her mother could kick her out of the house, so she better start respecting her and following the rules. Then they went on their way, assuming the tension had been resolved. Isabella didn't speak again after the police left. She just remained silent and spent the rest of the evening in her bedroom. Udn Mee also phoned Isabella's father, Robert Guzman, to come and talk to his daughter about her behavior. He came to the house the next morning and had a heart to heart with her, later recalling, we sat down in the backyard looking at the trees and the animals. I started to talk to her about the respect that people should have for their parents.

Starting point is 00:05:56 And I was trying to let her know that she should be obedient to her parents, not rebellious, that she should try to listen more and everything was going fine. In the conversation, I thought that I made progress, but obviously it didn't do nothing because hours later, this thing happened. At 8.30 p.m. on August 28, 2013. Ryan Hoy returned home from work. Saw Isabelle in the kitchen and nothing seemed out of the ordinary at the ordinary at the time. that time. An hour later, his wife, Yu and Me, arrived home from work, carrying a bag of McDonald's

Starting point is 00:06:26 for her husband and daughter. You and me asked Ryan where Isabella was. Ryan said he didn't know where she was and went to the living room to eat dinner. He then told her husband that she was going to take a shower and she headed upstairs. Suddenly, Ryan heard a loud thud coming from the bathroom, following by his wife screaming for him. He rushed upstairs to help, saw that the bathroom door was slightly ajar and heard the shower running. He went to open the door, but Isabella quickly slammed and locked it. Within seconds, he noticed a pool of blood seeping under the door and surrounding his feet. He immediately ran downstairs and called 911 on his cell phone. Mating on the phone with dispatch, Ryan ran back upstairs just in time to hear his wife utter her last

Starting point is 00:07:11 word, Jehovah. Isabella then unlocked the door and calmly walked out, clutching the bloody knife in her right hand. She never even acknowledged her stepfather standing there in horror. She just stared straight ahead and walked downstairs, as if nothing had ever happened. At this point, Ryan entered the bathroom and saw his wife lying naked on the floor. Body covered in blood and a bloody baseball bat was beside her. The informed dispatch that his wife's throat had been slashed. The stepdaughter was in the backyard. His batch told him to start giving CPR, hoping his wife might still be alive,

Starting point is 00:07:47 Ryan began resuscitation attempts, but instantly realized she was dead once he gazed into her lifeless, blank eyes. Paramedics arrived from the medical center of Aurora South Campus, but sadly, it was too late. Yunmi Hoi was pronounced dead at 10.28 p.m. She died a slow, agonizing death. Forensic pathologist Dr. Kelly Lear-Kahl performed her autopsy at the Arapaho County Coroner's Office. The report revealed that U.S. Yunmi's throat had been slashed and she had been stabbed 79 times, 31 times in the face, and 48 times in the neck. Officers from the Aurora Police Department arrived at approximately 10.16 p.m. But Isabella was nowhere to be seen. Ryan, who was still covered in blood,

Starting point is 00:08:35 informed Sergeant Sean Mitchell that his stepdaughter had fled with a knife. The sergeant and the other officers conducted a protective sweep of the property in search of Isabella. And when they couldn't locate her, a manhunt was launched. Isabella Guzman was described by police as five foot six inches tall, 110 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. The public was warned that she was armed and dangerous. Police hoped to track Isabella down by her cell phone signals, however, she had switched her phone off. But they were eventually able to locate her after an unnamed witness reported seeing a dead body located in a car in a garage located on the 2,800 block of South Parker Road, which was located less than a mile away from the Hoy residents.

Starting point is 00:09:22 At around 2 p.m. on August 29th, less than 24 hours after the brutal killing of Yunmi Hoy. Three officers entered the garage and opened the car trunk. But instead of a body, they found a bloodstained knife and a backpack. Isabella, who was hiding out in the garage, made a break for it. Unfortunately, for her, she was easily spotted by officers as, her pink sports bra in turquoise shorts were both soaked in her mother's blood. Officers drew their guns and ordered her to get on the ground. She was then arrested and detained at the Arapaho County Jail. Despite literally being caught red-handed when brought in for a police interview with Detective

Starting point is 00:10:02 Sobieski, Isabella denied killing her mother. She then told officers that she was actually a 15-year-old named Samantha Gonzalez, not the 18-year-old killer Isabella Guzman. and police had just spent 16 long hours hunting down. However, the police knew exactly who she was and what she had done. After Detective Sobieski told Isabella, in his words, she left her mother to die brutally on the bathroom floor. Isabella responded very calmly, with almost no emotion, saying,

Starting point is 00:10:31 I did not murder anyone. Please stop accusing me of this. Please fingerprint me. I will show I'm not this freaky, horrible person. Isabella remained adamant that police had the wrong girl. and kept explaining that she was just a lookalike of the murderer who happened to be taking a shortcut through the parking garage. Her refusal to cooperate was pushing Detective Sobieski over the edge.

Starting point is 00:10:53 Things began to get very heated. When asked, we don't have the wrong girl. You know that. How did it feel? When you did what you did, did it make you feel powerful? Isabella simply replied, ew, just you. She then demanded that officers take a DNA sample of her so she could prove her innocence and go home. That's all the evidence.

Starting point is 00:11:13 you need. The DNA evidence doesn't match. You can't keep me here. I've watched forensic files. You can't lie to me. Detective Sobieski then yelled at Isabella. Are you going to put your life in the hands of some TV show? Is that what you're going to bargain your life on? Does that make any goddamn sense to you, Isabella? To which Isabella responded, don't call me Isabella. That's not my name. Detective Sobieski then threatened to bring her stepfather Ryan Hoy into the room, telling her that Ryan would prove her identity and she could apologize to him for killing his wife. However, Isabella's father, Robert Guzman, was brought in instead. Robert Guzman entered the interrogation room to see his daughter for the first time since

Starting point is 00:11:52 learning about the grisly murder she had committed. He was very sympathetic toward her. Called Isabella My Baby and tried to hug her, but she kept pushing him away saying, Who Are You? Robert said he was heartbroken by the death of his ex-wife. He told CBS Denver in an interview, just days after her death, that Isabella's a good kid. It's a good hearty kid.

Starting point is 00:12:14 I don't know what could have happened, honestly, to provoke this kind of reaction. He and his sister, Melanie Guzman, strongly believe Isabella's claims of being abused by her mother. And when speaking of her niece, she gave the following description. Her demeanor is pretty sweet. She's very coquettish. I could see her yelling, screaming, and storming off and locking herself in her room and turning on her iPod, but not being violent like that. There has to be something more to it.

Starting point is 00:12:44 For killing her mom, Isabella claimed she had been subjected to years of abuse at her mother's hands. And this abuse worsened after she decided to stop being a Jehovah's Witness at age 14. However, Isabella never provided any details regarding the abuse she allegedly suffered. I was abused at home by my family for many years. My parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. And I left the religion when I was 14. And the abuse at home worsened after I quit. On August 30th, Isabella Guzman appeared briefly in court before Judge Stephen F. Collins.

Starting point is 00:13:17 She was shackled, wearing an orange jumpsuit, and had a bandage over her right wrists, protecting a wound she had probably acquired during the attack or when she ran away from the crime scene holding a knife. Calls were made to the Aurora Public Defender's Office to find Isabella in an attorney, but they were not returned. The judge ordered her to remain in custody without bond. On September 5th, 2013, Isabella Guzman's trial took place. However, it almost didn't proceed because Isabella refused to leave her cell, and police ended up having to physically drag her out. She was charged with first-degree homicide in two charges of crime of violence,

Starting point is 00:13:55 but pled not guilty by reason of insanity. Isabella's behavior during her trial was disturbing, and one of the reasons why the case became so infamous. Despite killing her own mother in cold blood, Isabella sat very calmly in the courtroom, taking no interest in anything anybody was saying. She could be seen smirking directly at the camera before moving to sit at her defense table. And once there, she looked at the camera again in motion to her psychotic-looking eyes with her index finger. Doctors were brought in during the trial and testified that Isabella Guzman was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been in and out of psychosis for years.

Starting point is 00:14:33 Now said that Isabella did not actually know she was killing her mother. In her sick, deranged mind, she believed she was really killing a woman called Cecilia, and by killing her, she would save the entire world. This evidence was strong enough for the 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brockler to accept Isabella's insanity plea. Just before the sentencing, DA Brockler gave a statement to the courtroom, he said, We punish people who make decisions to do wrong when they knew better, and they could have done something differently. And in this particular case, I am convinced, based on the evidence,

Starting point is 00:15:06 evidence that I've seen and the information that's been presented in court, this woman did not know right from wrong, and she could not have acted differently than she did, given the significant schizophrenia and paranoid delusions, audible visual hallucinations that she was going through. I was convinced of it, and I felt like in the interest of justice, I had to take these steps. Isabella was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo. She wasn't given a life sentence to the judge, She simply said she would remain at the hospital until she was no longer a threat to herself or the community. When reporters from Denver 7 visited the Hoy residence on the day of the trial,

Starting point is 00:15:47 cleaners told them that Isabella's traumatized stepfather, Ryan Hoy, may never return to his house. Trash cans were seen in the background filled with jewelry, stuffed animals, and yellow crime scene tape. The house was put up for sale in February of 2015 and sold that same year. After being incarcerated at the Colorado Mental Health Institute, Isabella claimed to have been essayed on three separate occasions, all by the same staff member. The first of the alleged assaults occurred in a utility closet. If I wanted to go in there and look through to get some clothing, so I did. The other patient left, and he went in there and shut the door behind him.

Starting point is 00:16:25 But Isabella was too afraid to speak up at first, later saying that she was... I was afraid that if I didn't do or what he wanted, that he could ruin my... life. She eventually filed a police report in 2015, but the district attorney's office in Pueblo didn't receive the report until years later. When they eventually reviewed it, they couldn't pursue any charges because too much time had passed. So hard on me emotionally and mentally, I made me feel like I wanted to give up. In November of 2020, after just seven years of treatment for her schizophrenia, Isabella requested to be released from the hospital, saying she had been on medication for years and was no longer insane.

Starting point is 00:17:07 I'm not mentally ill anymore. I'm not a danger to myself or others. She explained in an interview with CBS4 Denver. I was not myself when I did that. And I have since been restored to full health. Isabella also expressed her remorse over stabbing her mother 79 times, saying, with my mom was terrible and I was injured in the process. I have the scars on my hands. I don't know if you can see or not.

Starting point is 00:17:36 If I could change it or if I could take it back, I would. Isabella's father, Robert Guzman, rarely spoke publicly about his daughter and the murder of his ex-wife. However, July 26, 2023, he posted a bizarre statement on Facebook, which read, and I quote, I found this information in an old password notebook. This Ilya Abramoff manipulated the mind of Isabella and had her admit she had killed her mother. In fact, it was Ryan Hoy, Junimi's paranoid schizophrenic husband who murdered her. This statement is an affidavit and is true and correct,

Starting point is 00:18:15 Robert B. Guzman. Robert's statement made some very serious allegations, and it is understandable that a parent would refuse to believe that their child is to blame for such a heinous crime. We don't hold that against Robert whatsoever. But neither the police nor Ryan Hoy has commented on the statement, and the evidence is that, that Isabella Guzman killed her mother, and as of now, that is indisputable.

Starting point is 00:18:40 While the murder of Yun Mi Hoi by her own daughter made headlines around the world in the summer of 2013, the case and Isabella's bizarre behavior that followed during her police interviews and trial, caused her to become a viral sensation on TikTok in 2020, and actually resulted in her acquiring her own fan base, which alarmingly consists mainly of teenage girls. fans post video edits of Isabella's strange gestures and facial expressions in the courtroom to the Ava Mac song, Sweet But Psycho, and make comments saying how beautiful Isabella was. They claim that stabbing her own mother to death was justified because of the abuse Isabella claims to have endured at her hands. There's a private Facebook group out of Indonesia called Isabella Guzman fans that has 2,700 members and one fan account on Instagram with almost 10,000 followers. The account posts edits of Isabella's court appearances, in addition to other disturbing posts like

Starting point is 00:19:39 cutting a cake that's been made to look like a human heart. Fans of Isabella have been widely criticized for glorifying and glamorizing murder and mental illness. Isabella spoke with CBS News again in March 2021 and said she was given permission to attend a hearing about being granted more freedom inside the hospital. The hearing must have been successful because in June of 2021, she was granted permission to leave the hospital and attend therapy sessions. As of April of 2024, Isabella Guzman still remains incarcerated at the Colorado Mental Health Institute with no sign of being released back into society anytime soon. Regardless of her future, she will forever have to live with the memory of stabbing her own mother

Starting point is 00:20:22 to death as she screamed and pled for help. You and me's funeral took place two days after Isabella's murder trial at 3 p.m. on September 7, 2013 at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in Foxfield, Colorado. The service was conducted by Walter Cowell, and many friends and extended family members of Yunmi came to pay their respects. Like most Jehovah's Witness funerals, the service was likely 15 to 30 minutes long. While Yunmi's daughter Isabella was not in attendance, her name was included in the funeral program, which read, In loving memory of Yunmi Hoi, and he will wipe out every tear from their eyes.

Starting point is 00:21:03 and death will be no more. Neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain anymore. The former things have passed away, Revelations 214. Yun Mi Hoi, born December 17th, 1965 in Kun San South Korea,

Starting point is 00:21:19 passed away August 28, 2013, Aurora, Colorado. Survived by husband Ryan Hoy, daughter Isabella Guzman, mother Elizabeth Ho, sister Juni Ashford, husband Danny, and son Zachary. Brother Ken

Starting point is 00:21:33 brother Peter Ho, wife So Young Ho, daughters Monet Ho, and Renee Ho. Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise, 2343. Our family would like to express their thanks and heartfelt appreciation for all the kindness, encouragement, support, and love that has been received at this time. With all our hearts, thank you. Yunmi Hoi's final resting place is at Rocky Mountain Memorial Park in Denver, Colorado. She is deeply and forever missed by her husband, Ryan Hoy, her ex-husband Robert Guzman, and all of her siblings, extended family, and friends.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Yun Mi Hoy

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