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Itaewon murder case

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Arthur Patterson
Born1979 (age 46–47)
Los Angeles, California, US
Criminal status
20 years imprisonment
ConvictionMurder
Date apprehended
September 23, 2015

The Itaewon murder took place on April 3, 1997, when 17-year-old Arthur Patterson killed 22-year-old Cho Jung-pil (Korean: 조중필; born 1974), a Hongik University student, by stabbing him at a Burger King in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea. Patterson and his friend Edward Lee were arrested, but they were released by the Supreme Court of South Korea in 1998 due to lack of evidence, and Patterson fled to the United States. Lee was initially convicted of the murder but was later acquitted.

In October 2012, the case was reopened, and in 2015, Patterson was extradited back to South Korea. A year later, he was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.[1][2][3]

Murder of Cho Jung-Pil

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Edward Lee, a Korean-American, and Arthur Patterson, the son of a US soldier stationed in South Korea, together with 20 other teenagers, were at a Burger King in Itaewon in Seoul on April 3, 1997.[4] After the rest of the group left, Patterson and Lee went to the bathroom, where they came in contact with Cho Jung-Pil and stabbed him nine times in the neck and chest with a knife. On April 4, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division received an anonymous report and arrested Patterson. On April 6, after seeing his son on television, Edward Lee's father confronted him, but Lee denied involvement in the crime. They later met with a lawyer, and Lee confessed to the crime on April 8.[5]

Convictions, acquittal, and flight

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Following what was later said to have been a botched investigation on the part of South Korean detectives,[6] Lee was convicted of murder, while Patterson was convicted of possession of a weapon. Lee was later acquitted by the Supreme Court of South Korea due to insufficient evidence against him,[7] and Patterson, who had not received a travel ban, fled to the United States in 1999.[8]

The Cho family sued the South Korean government for negligence and for preventing Patterson from leaving the country.[6] The Supreme Court ruled in their favor.[6]

Reopening of the case

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In 2009, following the release of Hong Ki-sun's feature film The Case of Itaewon Homicide, the incident attracted renewed attention, and South Korean prosecutors reopened the case, filing an extradition request with the US government for Patterson's return to South Korea, and indicting him for murder.[9][10] In October 2011, it was announced that Patterson had been arrested in Los Angeles and would be sent back to South Korea, to prevent the expiration of the relevant statute of limitations, in April 2012.[6] According to MBC News, an acquaintance of Patterson's had stated in an interview that he heard Patterson say "I killed Mr. Cho".[6] It was also reported that Lee had written a letter of apology to Cho's mother, in which he promised to tell the truth in court if Patterson was brought to trial.[6]

The U.S. District Attorney Andrew Brown of the Central District of California, who presided over the extradition case, asserted that he believed Patterson and Lee had been accomplices and that evidence pointed to Patterson's being the culprit in the murder.[11] As the investigation continued, South Korean prosecutors claimed to have uncovered evidence to suggest that Lee had handed Patterson the knife and instructed him to stab Cho.[12]

In October 2012, the U.S. District Court ruled for Patterson to be extradited to South Korea,[9] though his lawyers subsequently submitted a petition of habeas corpus, delaying the extradition.[13]

Final sentencing

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In September 2015, 18 years after the murder, Patterson was extradited to Seoul to stand trial once more. He was held at the Seoul Detention Center.[14]

He continued to claim his innocence throughout the trial and maintained that Lee was the killer.[3] In January 2016, Patterson was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison,[15] with the judge explaining that "the court decided on a life sentence, but in view of the defendant's age, of being under 18 at the time, the sentence will be 20 years in prison".[3] Patterson appealed, but the court upheld the sentence.[16]

In media

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  • March 6, 1999 – the SBS investigative program I Want to Know broadcast an episode about the murder.[17]
  • January 27, 2003 – the MBC program Real Story Theater: Crime and Punishment aired an episode about the case.[18]
  • September 2009 – the feature film The Case of Itaewon Homicide is based on the case.[19]
  • December 19, 2009 – I Want to Know broadcast another episode about the murder.[20]

References

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  1. ^ Choe, Sang-Hun (September 22, 2015). "American Is Extradited to South Korea for Trial in 1997 Murder". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  2. ^ Chung, Ah-young (September 23, 2015). "Will 18-year-old murder mystery be solved?". The Korea Times. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Fifield, Anna (January 29, 2016). "California man sentenced to 20 years in jail over 1997 murder in Seoul". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Cain, Geoffrey (January 20, 2010). "South Korea Reopens the Burger King Murder File". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "[SOCIETY] 이태원 살인사건의 추억" [[Society] Memories of the Itaewon Murder Case]. naver.com (in Korean). January 27, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "'이태원 살인' 용의 패터슨 "내가 진범"" [Itaewon Murder Suspect Patterson: "I'm the Real Murderer"]. segye.com (in Korean). October 13, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  7. ^ Cho, Jae-hyon (October 19, 2011). "Itaewon murder case". The Korea Times. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  8. ^ ""이태원 살인사건 용의자 범죄인 인도 청구"" [Request for extradition of Itaewon murder suspect]. naver.com (in Korean). December 15, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  9. ^ a b "'이태원 살인사건' 패터슨, 한국 송환될 듯" [Itaewon Murder Case: Patterson Likely to Be Extradited to South Korea]. naver.com (in Korean). October 24, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  10. ^ "檢 '이태원 살인' 용의자 패터슨 내달 기소" [Prosecutors to indict Itaewon murder suspect Patterson next month]. naver.com (in Korean). November 21, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  11. ^ "美 "'이태원 살인' 패터슨이 살인범이란 증거 많다"" [US: "Amount of Evidence Identifies Patterson as the Itaewon Murderer"]. naver.com (in Korean). November 3, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  12. ^ "이태원 살인사건, 에드워드가 살인 유도" [Itaewon Murder Case: Edward Incited to Murder]. munhwa.com (in Korean). December 27, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  13. ^ "'이태원 살인사건' 용의자 아더 패터슨, 한국 송환 불복" [Arthur Patterson, suspect in the Itaewon murder case, refuses to be extradited to South Korea.]. naver.com (in Korean). December 6, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  14. ^ KH디지털2 (September 23, 2015). "U.S. citizen accused of murdering S. Korean student extradited". The Korea Herald. Retrieved April 16, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "South Korea gives American 20 years for 1997 murder in Burger King bathroom". chicagotribune.com. Associated Press. January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  16. ^ "Itaewon killer's 20-year term confirmed". January 25, 2017.
  17. ^ "TV Guide". naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  18. ^ "[하이라이트] 한민족 리포트 外" [[Highlight] Korean People Report, etc.]. naver.com (in Korean). January 26, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  19. ^ "화장실에 봉인된 12년 전의 핏빛 진실" [The bloody truth from 12 years ago, sealed in the bathroom.]. hani.co.kr (in Korean). September 9, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  20. ^ "그것이 알고싶다 '이태원 살인사건' 용의자 인터뷰와 사건의 실마리 추적" [I Want to Know: Interview with the Itaewon Murder Suspect and Tracking the Case's Clues]. kyeongin.com (in Korean). December 20, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
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