ID :
212107
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 06:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/212107
The shortlink copeid
Usual suspect in Itaewon homicide cold case caught in U.S.
SEOUL (Yonhap) - A key U.S. suspect of a cold-case murder that took place in Seoul's multicultural Itaewon district nearly 15 years ago has recently been caught in his home country and gone on trial for extradition, sources here have said.
"Arthur Patterson, then the 17-year-old son of a U.S. Army contractor, has been arrested on charges regarding the 1997 murder and undergone trial in a local court in California," a source from Seoul's prosecutors' office said Monday. He declined to be identified.
In April 1997, a South Korean college student surnamed Cho, 22, was stabbed to death at a Burger King outlet in Itaewon. Prosecutors named two suspects -- Patterson and 18-year-old Korean-American Edward Lee -- who had dined together with him that evening, both of whom admitted to witnessing the killing while accusing each other of doing it.
The court found Lee guilty of murder, sentencing him to life imprisonment in 1998. But he was acquitted by the Supreme Court the following year on a lack of evidence. Patterson was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possessing an illegal weapon and destroying evidence, but he was released early in 1999 as part of a general amnesty and fled to his home in California.
Upon renewed interest in the crime sparked by the 2009 blockbuster film "The Case of the Itaewon Homicide" and complaints from the victim's family, authorities decided to reopen the case and sent documents requesting his extradition to the U.S. government.
"The trial in California is to decide whether to extradite the man to South Korea," the source said, adding, "Such trials for extradition take a long time in general, and it is hard to tell anything about the outcome as of now."
Another source from Seoul's Justice Ministry also confirmed that Patterson "has been under custody in the U.S. due to his involvement in the case."
The investigation is supposed to officially close in April 2012 when the 15 years of the statute of limitation expires, but its effect is immediately suspended in case an offender leaves the country to evade punishment.
"Arthur Patterson, then the 17-year-old son of a U.S. Army contractor, has been arrested on charges regarding the 1997 murder and undergone trial in a local court in California," a source from Seoul's prosecutors' office said Monday. He declined to be identified.
In April 1997, a South Korean college student surnamed Cho, 22, was stabbed to death at a Burger King outlet in Itaewon. Prosecutors named two suspects -- Patterson and 18-year-old Korean-American Edward Lee -- who had dined together with him that evening, both of whom admitted to witnessing the killing while accusing each other of doing it.
The court found Lee guilty of murder, sentencing him to life imprisonment in 1998. But he was acquitted by the Supreme Court the following year on a lack of evidence. Patterson was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possessing an illegal weapon and destroying evidence, but he was released early in 1999 as part of a general amnesty and fled to his home in California.
Upon renewed interest in the crime sparked by the 2009 blockbuster film "The Case of the Itaewon Homicide" and complaints from the victim's family, authorities decided to reopen the case and sent documents requesting his extradition to the U.S. government.
"The trial in California is to decide whether to extradite the man to South Korea," the source said, adding, "Such trials for extradition take a long time in general, and it is hard to tell anything about the outcome as of now."
Another source from Seoul's Justice Ministry also confirmed that Patterson "has been under custody in the U.S. due to his involvement in the case."
The investigation is supposed to officially close in April 2012 when the 15 years of the statute of limitation expires, but its effect is immediately suspended in case an offender leaves the country to evade punishment.
