O.C. murder defendant testifies that pretending to be his dead business partner in emails to family and friends was a ‘terrible thing to do’

A man accused in Orange County of killing his friend and business partner for financial gain testified Tuesday that his decision to pose as the dead man through email for months in order to cover up the death was the “most awful thing” he has ever done.

Edward Younghood Shin during his second day of testimony in his special circumstances murder trial admitted to posing as 33-year-old Chris Smith through email and spending at least six months feeding Smith’s family and friends false tales of Smith surfing waves and seeking out other adventures around the world.

“Do you regret sending those emails?” asked Ed Welbourn, Shin’s attorney.

“It was a terrible thing to do, to try to convince a family their dead son is still alive, still traveling,” Shin said.

Prosecutors allege Shin, now 40, killed Smith over a business dispute, brutally beating or stabbing him on June 4, 2010 at their San Juan Capistrano office. Shin says Smith attacked him and died after accidentally hitting his head on his own desk during the ensuing scuffle.

“Looking back at this situation, do you regret the things you did after the fight?” Welbourn asked.

“Everything,” Shin replied. “It was wrong on every level not to call police, not to trust that everything would sort itself out, to deceive his family.”

Shin acknowledged it wasn’t the first time he had pretended to be someone else through email. He admitted that years earlier he had sent his own father an email pretending to be someone who had kidnapped him. Shin said he was having a “nervous breakdown” at the time, and had driven as far as Texas before deciding to contact his father and police and explaining there hadn’t actually been a kidnapping.

Through several hours of cross-examination, Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy repeatedly pressed Shin on his actions following Smith’s death.

Shin acknowledged that the first email he sent under Smith’s name the night of his death was to Smith’s attorney, which included a fake buyout agreement giving Shin full control over their company.

“Your first thought in this panicked state was ‘I can now get his shares of this company?’” Murphy asked.

“No,” Shin responded.

“Well, that is what this email accomplishes,” the prosecutor said.

“Yes,” Shin said.

If Smith’s death was accidental, Murphy asked Shin why he didn’t call police. They could have either saved Smith, the prosecutor said, or at least confirmed injuries consistent with the fight described by Shin.

“Chris Smith’s body, alive or dead, is the best way for you to get out of trouble,” Murphy said.

“In retrospect, yes” Shin said.

Shin testified that instead of calling 911, he contacted an independent host he knew from trips to Las Vegas, who Shin said put him in touch with another man, who helped him set up a meeting with a man with an Eastern European accent in Long Beach. Shin said he gave the man, who he did not know, either $10,000 or $15,000 in cash, provided him with directions to the office where Smith’s body was located, then returned to the office later to find the body gone.

Months after Smith’s death, Shin testified that he met with Smith’s father, a former law enforcement officer who had grown suspicious of his son’s disappearance. Shin said he was still trying to steer the father away from learning of his son’s death. But Shin acknowledged mentioning to the father the name of the man he claimed had helped him find someone to get rid of Smith’s body.

“You give him the name of the one guy on the planet that knows how to reach the guy who disposed of the body?” Murphy asked

“I guess,” Shin answered.

Murphy also repeatedly asked Shin if he had taken gold coins that Smith’s girlfriend testified had been stashed at Smith’s apartment, an allegation Shin denied.

Investigators believe that Shin used a rented pickup truck to dispose of Smith’s body in the desert, though they have been unable to locate the body. Shin said he rented the truck in order to flee to South America, but changed his mind near the Mexican border.

Shin’s testimony is scheduled to continue on Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.