Itaewon murder case
Arthur Patterson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 (age 45–46) |
| Nationality | American |
| Criminal status | 20 years imprisonment |
| Conviction | Murder |
The Itaewon Burger King Murder took place on April 3, 1997 when 22-year-old Hongik University student Jo Jung-pil (Korean: 조중필; born 1974) was stabbed to death at Burger King in Itaewon. Arthur Patterson, 17 at the time of the incident (born to an American father and a South Korean mother), was 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 would face extradition by South Korean police after a DNA test indicated traces of Jo's DNA, when Lee's didn't. Patterson was extradited to South Korea in 2015. In 2016, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.