Nationality American | ||
Born December 2, 1977 (age 39) ( 1977-12-02 ) United States of America Criminal status In custody at Seoul Detention Center | ||
The Itaewon Burger King Murder took place on April 3, 1997 when 22-year-old Hongik University student Jo Jung-pil (Hangul: 조중필; born 1976) was stabbed to death at Burger King in Itaewon . Arthur Patterson, 18 at the time of the incident (born to an American father and a South Korean mother) is the main suspect. Patterson and his friend Edward Lee were arrested but they were released by the Supreme Court in 1998 due to lack of evidence and Patterson was banned from travelling to South Korea. In October 2012 it was announced Patterson will face extradition by South Korean police after a DNA test indicated he was the killer.
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Backstory
Korean-American Edward Lee and Arthur Patterson with 20 other male and female teenagers were having a party on the 4th floor of a building in Itaewon on April 3, 1997, where they went to the first floor of the same building to order hamburgers from a Burger King outlet. As Patterson used his pocket knife to cut his hamburger, the group started the conversation about knives. After the rest of the group went back to the 4th floor, Patterson and his friend Lee went to the bathroom, where they coincidentally came in contact with Jo Jong-pil and allegedly stabbed him 9 times using the pocket knife. On April 4, the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) received an anonymous report and arrested Patterson. In April 6, after seeing Edward Lee on TV, Lee's father who returned from a business trip investigated him, as Lee denied his crime they met with a lawyer and confessed the crime on the April 8th.
Murder controversy
The case became complicated as investigators did not investigate the case properly. As the investigators could not speak English, they had problems interrogating which slowed down the initial investigation. Both Patterson and Lee also claimed that the other person committed the actual murder. In addition, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) caused problems in finding witnesses and investigation.
Lee was convicted of murder while Patterson was convicted of possession of weapon. After the first trial for the murder, it was ruled that Lee was guilty of murder. Lee was later acquitted by the Supreme Court of South Korea because of insufficient evidence. Patterson was convicted for possession of weapons and abandoned his appeal but was released from prison after his sentence was stopped. In the midst of this, the Ministry of Justice (Republic of Korea) did not extend the foreign travel ban for Patterson, three days before the foreign travel ban begun he decided to depart to the United States making further investigation difficult. The family of Jo Jong-pil claimed damages against the country for being negligent during the first and second trial. The Supreme Court of Korea ruled that "the relationship between the negligence of the prosecutor and the bereaved families of the mentally damage is recognized".
Prosecution of Patterson was requested by Jo Jong-pil's family, after the film The Case of Itaewon Homicide was released and the public demanded another judgement. The prosecutors at the Department of Justice petitioned for extradition on December 15, 2009.
Current status
After the murder case, Jo Jong-pil's parents requested a reinvestigation and Patterson the lead suspect who left to another country to attend, but the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded they couldn't find him which slowed down the process. In 2009, the film adaptation of The Case of Itaewon Homicide and SBS's program I Want to Know It broadcast an episode multiple times and interest in the topic renewed. On October 10, 2011 it was reported that suspect Patterson was arrested and would be sent back to Korea with the cooperation of authorities. Patterson was arrested by the United States police and the United States California Court sentencing stated, "relating to Patterson's repatriation, custody of the prisoner is allowed while bail is denied".
Patterson left the country once he was judged innocent on other charges, it remains a controversy whether the statute of limitations was stopped in the legal community. If 'in a foreign country to escape criminal actions' isn't proven, meaning if the statute of limitations isn't stopped until 15 years past the murder date, the statute of limitation will expire in April 2012. To avoid the controversy of statute of limitations completion, prosecutors announced in December 2011 that Arthur Patterson would be prosecuted. Thus, on December 22, 2011 Arthur Patterson was prosecuted by the South Korean prosecutors.
The United States attorney responsible for the repatriation said that the two were accomplices. After investigation by South Korean prosecutors it was said they were accomplices and Patterson killed the victim, and Lee instructed the murder. However, the possibility for indictment of Lee has remained unclear.
October 2012, the U.S. federal court in Los Angeles ruled for Patterson to be extradited to South Korea.
However, Patterson submitted a habeas corpus petition to the federal court in the U.S. state of California, delaying his extradition. He was in custody at the Los Angeles Downtown Federal Detention Center. Patterson has been through the South Korean courts again and has been sentenced to 20 years.