Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Court reenacts 'Itaewon murder'
Arthur John Patterson, who is on trial for allegedly stabbing a Korean student to death in a restroom in a Burger King restaurant in Itaewon in 1997, enters the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Friday. / Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul Central District Court conducted a reenactment of the “Itaewon murder” that took place 18 years ago at 2:30 p.m. Friday, in a mock-up of the bathroom it occurred in. Investigators for the prosecution installed the mock-up as the original has been destroyed.
The move was part of the murder trial involving 35-year-old Korean-American Arthur Patterson, who was indicted in September for the alleged stabbing death of Korean student, Cho Joong-pil, at a Burger King restaurant in Itaewon on April 3, 1997.
Edward Kun Lee, who was initially convicted for the murder but later acquitted, was also present at the reenactment, along with 15 people including presiding Judge Shim Gyu-hong, prosecutors and defense attorneys, as well as a family member of the victim. Alongside Patterson and Lee, three actors who have similar builds as those of Patterson, Lee, and Cho reenacted the crime.
The reenactment took place without the media being present as requested by Lee and the prosecution. The latter said it wanted to avoid possible criticism that granting media access would be aimed at improving its chances of conviction.
Judge Shim said that the determination will be made on the credibility of the two conflicting testimonies offered by Patterson and Lee. Both of them have claimed innocence saying the other was the killer.
According to court officials, actors reenacted the crime twice, in accordance with the different testimonies from Patterson and Lee. Any disparity drawn will be evidence damaging their credibility, according to the officials.
Patterson has claimed that he followed Lee, who followed Cho into the bathroom with a folding knife in his pocket, and claimed that Lee stabbed the victim in the neck after looking inside the bathroom stalls to see if anyone was there.
However, Lee has claimed that he was washing his hands and when he looked up in the mirror and witnessed Patterson stabbing Cho.
At the time of the incident, Patterson, Lee, and the victim were the only people present at the crime scene.
Earlier, a knife specialist gave testimony that hurt Patterson’s claim, saying anyone shorter and of a smaller build than the victim could have attacked, inflicting nine stab wounds, because physical build is irrelevant in attacks involving a weapon, especially a knife.
In an earlier ruling that convicted Lee, the determination was made following the prosecution’s claim that the attacker must have been big enough to overpower the victim.
Lee is 180 centimeters tall and weighs 105 kilograms; the victim was 176 centimeters tall; while Patterson is 174 centimeters tall and weighs 63 kilograms.