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There were three men in a restroom. One of them was brutally stabbed to death. The remaining two were the only other people in the toilet when the man was killed.
Both claimed they witnessed the murder and accused each other of stabbing the man. It’s obvious that one of the two did it.
But justice has been undone for more than 14 years in what is known as the “Itaewon murder” case.
On April 3, 1997, Cho Joong-pil, then a 23-year-old collegian, was stabbed in the neck and chest nine times in the restroom of a Burger King outlet in Itaewon, Seoul.
The other two in the restroom were Arthur Patterson, the 17-year-old son of a U.S. military service member, and his 18-year-old Korean American friend Edward Lee.
Circumstances were unfavorable for Patterson, including the results of U.S. military criminal investigation division (CID)’s probe and testimonies from their friends, according to court rulings and investigation reports.
The knife the murderer used belonged to Patterson. The blood on Patterson’s clothing matched that of the victim. The knife had the victim’s DNA on it. Their friends also testified against Patterson.
Oddly enough, the prosecution initially accepted Patterson’s claim and charged Lee with murder. Patterson was indicted only for possession of an illegal weapon and destroying evidence.
Lee was convicted of murder at a lower court but was acquitted on appeal in September, 1999. The top court said that the evidence was insufficient and Patterson’s testimony was not credible.
In hindsight, prosecutors must have been barking up the wrong tree. If Lee was not responsible, the only suspect left for the prosecution to charge was Patterson.
But a prosecutor’s failure to renew a travel ban on Patterson, who was freed in a special amnesty, allowed him to slip out of the country in late August, 1999.
The case remained closed until a film featuring the murder, “The Case of the Itaewon Homicide” was released in September, 2009. Only after the movie reignited public fury over the crime, did the government ask the United States to extradite Patterson.
The prime suspect, arrested by the U.S. authorities in May, is now undergoing extradition procedures which legal experts say normally take two to three years.
The problem is that the 15-year statute of limitations for the murder is just six months away. Some claim that the statute of limitations freezes from the point when a suspect flees overseas. But it would be difficult to categorize Patterson as an outright fugitive given he was free to leave for the United States at that time.
This means that Patterson should be brought here at the earliest possible time to prosecute him on charges of murder.
It’s impossible to fathom how much pain and trauma the victim’s bereaved family has gone through over the past 14 years. His mother says she has been living in a “hopeless hell.”
The mystery surrounding the murder must be resolved not only for the victim’s family but for better ties between the two countries.
American soldiers have recently been accused, in two separate cases, of raping young Korean women. Public sentiment against American servicemen has taken a dive as a result.
Whenever such crimes make headlines, demands for the revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) grow louder. The bilateral treaty has been an obstacle to effective and swift investigations of U.S. military personnel.
In the Itaewon murder case, SOFA restricted investigators from summoning children of American servicemen to secure crucial testimony. The treaty has become a shield behind which American soldiers and their families hide when they do something wrong. But it could create a moral hazard among them, giving them the wrong idea that they could go unpunished.
Some civic groups are joining forces to launch a fresh campaign to pressurize the government for the revision of SOFA. In the face of growing public pressure, the government last week said it will seek to modify the treaty, last amended in 2001.
The Korean judiciary is responsible for letting a suspect for the Itaewon murder go loose for more than 14 years. The government should also make all efforts to have the prime suspect back in a Korean court. People will otherwise remain angry over what they see as a lack of will to solve the case.
In the film, the actor playing Patterson has an eerie smirk on his face after stabbing his victim multiple times. Those who watched the movie would want the Korean judiciary to wipe out the derisive smirk from the suspect’s face this time.
Only then will the young man who was killed on the cold floor of a restroom be laid to rest in peace.
