Arthur Patterson (아서 패터슨)
No Crimes by U.S.Troops!
Title : Murder case Mr. CHO Jung-pil in Burger King, Itaewon(April 3, 1997)
Name : admin
Date : 2004-04-23 17:34:55
Category : Crime
Murder of Jung-pil Cho in Itaewon Burger King
Time of Incident: 11 pm, April 3, 1997
Location of Incident: Burger King restroom, Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Victim: Jung-Pil Cho (22 yrs., male, Hong-ik University student)
Offenders: Arthur Patterson (male, born 1977, son of U.S. military service member); Edward Lee (male, born 1977, U.S. civilian)
Summary of Incident and Trial (Translated, edited April 30, 2008)
At 11 pm on the evening of April 3, 1997, Hong-ik University student Jung-pil Cho was found dead in the restroom of a Burger King in Itaewon, Seoul. He had been stabbed 9 times in the chest and neck. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) received a report of the incident and began preliminary investigations and questioning the primary suspect, Arthur Patterson, son of a U.S. military service member. These preliminary investigations revealed that both Arthur Patterson and Edward Lee, Korean-American civilian, were at the scene of the crime when the incident occurred. Witnesses’ testimonies collected by the CID revealed that Patterson was a member of the Norte 14 gang in the U.S., and that Patterson himself was heard stating that he killed someone the same evening. CID investigations clearly indicated that Patterson was the primary suspect for Cho’s homicide, and the case (Patterson) was transferred to South Korean law enforcement officials.
Several days after the homicide occurred, Edward Lee turned himself into Korean authorities, at which point a full-fledged criminal investigation began. The prosecution and Korean authorities carried out their investigation and brought charges against Edward Lee as the culprit of the homicide and Arthur Patterson as an accomplice to the crime. In contradiction with the evidence they collected, U.S. officials did not challenge the prosecutor’s charges.
During the trial, both defendants denied all charges and placed blame of Jung-Pil Cho’s death on one another. In addition, inconsistencies emerged in the accounts given by Randy, a friend of Arthur Patterson. When CID questioned Randy during the preliminary investigation, he stated that Patterson admitted to killing Cho. When questioned by the Korean prosecution during trial, however, Randy changed his testimony and denied that Patterson made such statements. Randy’s testimony was thus rendered unreliable/incredible and the prosecution relied on autopsy and lie detector results. On April 26, 1997, Edward Lee was convicted of murder and Arthur Patterson was convicted of possession of a deadly weapon and destruction of evidence.
On October 2, 1997, judges sentenced Lee to life imprisonment and Patterson to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 1 year stay of execution. Both men appealed the sentences and on January 26, 1998 and Lee’s sentenced was reduced to 20 years in prison, while Patterson’s remained 1 year, 6 months with a 1 year stay. Later, Patterson abandoned his appeal case and was released from prison on August 15, 1998 with a special pardon. Lee’s case was appealed in Seoul Higher Appellate Courts, and then in the Supreme Court. As a result of the Supreme Court trial, which concluded on September 3, 1999, Lee was cleared of all charges due to insufficient evidence and released from prison.
After Edward Lee was cleared of all charges on September 24, 1998 in Seoul Appellate Courts (before the Supreme Court trial) Jung-Pil Cho’s bereaved family members brought a complaint against Arthur Patterson for Cho’s murder and demanded that he be immediately retained for further examination and collection of evidence.
After Patterson was released from jail, he could not leave the country due to prosecutor’s request. However, the prosecution failed to apply in the allotted time for an extension of the order that would prohibit Patterson from leaving the country. The prosecutor applied two days late, and Patterson returned to the United States while the Supreme Court was still deliberating Lee’s appeal. When Lee’s trial ended and judges determined he was not guilty of murder (leaving Patterson as the primary suspect for first-degree murder), Patterson was already back in the U.S. It was later revealed that he left Korea in December of 1999.
As a result, the case has not been put to rest. There are currently no convictions for the murder of Jung-Pil Cho and no one has been held responsible for his brutal death.
What are the underlying reasons for this ambiguous, absurd result? First, the vital evidence collected during CID’s preliminary investigation did not maintain credibility due to contradictions between accounts from the Korean authorities’ investigation and the U.S. Army’s investigation. Therefore, the CID-collected eyewitness accounts (in which Patterson’s friend stated that he admitted to the murder of Cho) could not be used by the state prosecutor during the trial. SOFA (Status of Armed Forces Agreement) regulations hindered the South Korean court’s ability to summon key witnesses that were dependents/children of U.S. military soldiers to be questioned in court by the prosecutor. In addition, logistical issues such as translation and interpretation (during interviews, etc.) complicated the prosecution’s investigations and disabled a smooth examination process.
In November of 2000 and again in January of 2002, the Seoul district public prosecutor sent the U.S. Department of Justice request for cooperation in order to proceed with criminal investigations: to gain access to witnesses and Patterson, the primary suspect. However, the prosecution did not receive a reply from U.S. officials, and have since then virtually stopped legal proceedings. In the case of murder, the statute of limitations in 15 years, within which time Patterson may be detained and punished for the crime. Instead, Patterson has fled Korea and public prosecutors have failed to get the cooperation of U.S. officials to continue the investigation and in reality, real efforts to close the case have been abandoned. The efforts and legal proceedings to bring justice to the murderer of Jung-Pil Cho have made minimal advancements. Instead, his death has become a solvable, “unsolved mystery.”
USFK(United States Forces in Korea)
http://www.usacrime.or.kr/
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Cho Jung-pil (조중필)
South Korea asks U.S. to extradite prime suspect in unsolved murder case
“Where the Truth Lies” film on “Burger King Murder” cold case fuels public pressure on prosecutors.
The Hankyoreh reports
Victim: Cho Joong Phil (22 year old male, a senior at Hong university)
Location: restroom at Burger King, Yi Tae Won District, Seoul
Date: April 3, 1997 11p.m.
Perpetrator: Arthur Jay Patterson (male, 20 years old)
Abstract:
On April 3rd, around 11pm, Korean-American Edward Lee and the son of an U.S. military officer Arthur Patterson stabbed to death Cho Joong Phil in the bathroom of a Burger King restaurant. Arthur Patterson and Edward Lee had been hanging out at the Burger King with friends. They had been playing with a jack knife when Edward Lee said to Arthur Patterson, “I’ll show you something” then proceeded to follow Cho Joong Phil into the bathroom. Then Edward Lee stabbed him to death while Patterson held him down. Then, they came out and put on their friends’ shirts and caps, and walked out. As they walked out, they said to their friends, ”We played a bloody game. We killed, for fun.” On April 26th, Edward Lee was convicted of murder and Arthur Patterson was convicted of assault.
South Korea asks U.S. to extradite prime suspect in unsolved murder case
“Where the Truth Lies” film on “Burger King Murder” cold case fuels public pressure on prosecutors
Prosecutors have reopened their investigation into the “Itaewon Murder Case” also referred to as the “Burger King Murder” of 1997.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutor‘s Office Department of Foreign Affairs has asked the U.S. Justice Department to extradite Arthur Patterson, age 32 and the prime suspect in the murder case. The Justice Ministry also said on Tuesday “We will ask U.S. government to extradite Patterson according to the request of prosecutors.”
On April 3 in 1997, a then-university student 23-years old with the surname of Cho was killed in a stabbing in the restroom of a Burger King in Itaewon. At the time, there were two suspects, including Arthur Patterson and his friend Edward Lee who followed Cho into the restroom. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command named Patterson as its prime suspect while South Korean prosecutors indicted Edward Lee due to lie detector results and on the basis of an expert opinion by a forensic doctor. Prosecutors charged Patterson with the possession of weapon.
Seoul’s High Court found Lee guilty and sentenced him to twenty years in prison, however, the Supreme Court reversed the verdict and found him innocent because it could not find credibility in Patterson’s statement. Since Patterson returned to the U.S. after being released by South Korean authorities, prosecutors have been unable to continue with their investigation.
Some speculate the release of the film about the murder case, “Where the Truth Lies,” has fueled public pressure on prosecutors to re-open the case and formally inform U.S. authorities of their desire to further question Patterson.
Meanwhile, many worry that there are obstacles facing the investigation as the statute of limitations is three years, and extradition might take up to a year alone following a trial in the U.S.
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/393678.html
Perhaps as a result of the movie that came out in September, The Hankyoreh reports the infamous crime in the old Itaewon Burger King may become a live case again.
After 12 years prosecutors are re-investigating the "Itaewon Burger Shop Murder", which has remained unsolved since 1997.
The foreign affairs division of the Seoul prosecutors office has requested the extradition of 32-year old murder suspect Arthur Patterson. The Ministry of Justice also announced on the 15th that, "following the request of the prosecutor's office we plan to request the American government to extradite Peterson."
On the night of April 3rd, 1997, 23-year old college student Mr. Jo was stabbed to death in the bathroom of a hamburger store in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Suspicion fell on the American Patterson and his friend Edward Lee, both of whom had followed Mr. Jo into the bathroom. At the time the military investigation team focused on Patterson as the most likely suspect. But prosecutors, acting on the results of a lie detector test and the theories of experts, indicted Lee for the crime and accused Patterson of merely possessing the weapon and destroying evidence. Lee was sentenced to 20 years in prison on appeal, but the Supreme Court pronounced him not guilty, saying "the statements of Patterson, who was with Lee, lack credibility." By then it had been over a year and Patterson had returned to America after receiving an August 15th special pardon. Though it was clear that either Lee or Patterson had stabbed Mr. Jo, Patterson, most likely the true killer, was in America and could not be investigated further. Prosecutors belatedly sought people who had seen Patterson and requested cooperation from American authorities but without result, and the investigation of Patterson came to an end.
Prosecutors said that they re-opened the investigation after the September release of the film "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" (이태원 살인사건), based on the events of the murder, caused a clamor to catch the true killer. But it appears it will not be easy to punish Peterson even though three years remain under the statute of limitations. Even if Patterson were arrested in America, it would take over a year to transfer him to Korea. It appears there would have to be a change in the attitude of the American government towards protecting its citizens.
http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/korea-beat/
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The Place of Real Case - Fact Report.
Murder case Mr. CHO Jung-pil in Burger King, Itaewon(April 3, 1997)
http://cafe.daum.net/chudan/LyRT/66?docid=1I7LFLyRT6620090909005451&q=%C1%B6%C1%DF%C7%CA
<조중필씨 살해사건>
피해자는 있지만 피의자는 없다!???
아직도 범인을 찾지 못했다.
1997년 4월3일 밤, 이태원의 버거킹 화장실에서
미군의 자녀에 의해 살해된 조중필씨의 한을 풀지 못했다.
미국인 패터슨, 애드워드 둘 중 한명은 분명히 범인이지만
지금 그들은 미국으로 돌아가서 편히 살고 있다.
장난으로 사람을 죽인 그들...
10년이 지난 시간...
아직도 미군범죄는 계속되고 있다.
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