I killed Zhao Chongbi, so what can Koreans do to me? ──Arthur Patterson ( Itaewon murder suspect)
Itaewon is located in the downtown area of Seoul. It is known as the global village with the strongest exotic style in South Korea. It is close to Yongsan, a US military base. You can only get there by taking the Seoul Metro Line 6. In the first few stops near Itaewon, it is clearly observed that more than 80% of the passengers on the bus have different skin colors and hair colors. It seems that people feel that they have really come to the global village.
is where foreign populations gather, and there are many misunderstandings, quarrels, and even crimes caused by cultural differences. It is no wonder that according to local Korean media reports, the Longshan District Police Chief is located in one of the top ten police stations in South Korea that reported foreigners' crimes.
When it comes to the most famous social case in Itaewon, South Korea, happened at around 10 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, 1997. In the famous chain fast food restaurant Burger King restaurant, a Hongi college student Zhao Chongbi (transliteration, 22 years old), who was dating his girlfriend, was inexplicably stabbed and killed by a stranger from behind with a sharp blade. According to forensic identification, the deceased Zhao Chongbi was tragic in death, with nine heavy bodies, three right neck and four left neck. Two more were added to the right chest, and the knife was penetrated into the bone, causing Zhao Chongbi to flow blood on the spot. A large amount of blood was sprayed on the walls and sinks inside the toilet, and excessive blood was lost on the spot, and the toilet was cut off.
victim Zhao Chongbi
This is a random indiscriminate murder case. This murder case is also called the Itaewon murder case by local Koreans.
"Itaewon Class" once again exerted its publicity power of drama series and "whitewashed" Itaewon.
"Itaewon Class" Stills
The Rashomon case of two suspects was investigated by South Korean police on the same day. Two foreigners who appeared at the crime scene at the same time, Arthur Patterson (17 years old at the time, a mixed-race American and Korean child) and Edward Lee (18 years old at the time, Korean-American and the son of the US military stationed in South Korea) were the main suspects of the crime.
"I didn't kill the person, he was the murderer!"
"Nonsense! He obviously killed him!"
In Edward's confession, it said that Patterson asked him to go to the bathroom that night. He came in with him and wanted to wash his hands. How could he have thought that Patterson, who entered the toilet, suddenly went crazy and took out the folding saber he carried with him. Without saying a word, he stabbed Zhao Chongbi in the toilet. However, Patterson's confession said that Edward wanted to show him something (drugs) and asked him to go to the toilet together, but how did he know that after arriving at the toilet, Edward snatched the folding saber from his body, and then showed him the cruel scene of him stabbing a college student named Zhao in a mess.
If this case occurs in an elevator, corridor, or a place with surveillance, the police can immediately review the surveillance evidence, expose one of the lies, and catch the murderer. However, the murder happened in the dead-end toilet under the surveillance, and the police had no choice. Moreover, the two who identified each other as the murderer entered the toilet almost at the same time, becoming the Rashomon murder case where they said their own words.
The persevering police continued to ask the details of the two people's crimes, such as "How did he stab a college student in Zhao?", "Which direction was stabbed?", "How did he stabbed?" and so on.
Edward shirked out on the grounds that "I was frightened at that time and couldn't recall it", but Patterson truthfully and clearly depicted the crime.
The police finally combined the above testimony, plus the determination that the murder weapon was originally possessed by Patterson, and the crime clothes stained with the victim's blood were found in his home. After DNA testing, it was confirmed that it was the victim's blood. Friends who participated in the party that day also claimed that Patterson was the murderer. Moreover, Patterson was stained with blood from the victim, which was more than Edward. In addition, Patterson had a tattoo of a famous California gangster North 14 in his body, so the police insisted that the murderer was Patterson.
South Korean prosecutor reversed the suspect
When the police submitted the investigation report to the procuratorate and were preparing to prosecute Patterson, the South Korean procuratorate denied the police investigation, but instead believed that Edward was the real suspect.
Because the procuratorate believes that multiple lie tests show that Edward obviously lies. Another key factor identified by the prosecution is that the victim Zhao Chongbi is about 176 cm tall, and the fatal wounds are all cuts that the perpetrator inserted into his neck with a sharp blade from top to bottom. Therefore, the murderer must be taller than the deceased and strong enough to control the victim's actions, and he will expose nine fatal injuries. The prosecution therefore inferred that Edward, who was 180 cm tall and weighed 105 kg, was more suspected than Patterson, who was 173 cm tall and weighed about 75 kg.
The most important thing is that the bloodstains on Edward's chest are splattered, which is more in line with the results of the autopsy report. This shows that Edward, who has the advantage of figure, is the most likely murderer to stab Zhao Chongbi in the neck with a knife. Therefore, the South Korean prosecutor insisted on his own and formally prosecuted Edward for murder in May of that year. Later, Edward was sentenced to life imprisonment by a South Korean court, while Patterson was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months for illegal possession of weapons and evidence of destruction.
Two suspects were at large, but the matter was not settled. Soon, the problem of "having two suspects" facing the South Korean judicial system evolved into a worse situation of "no murderer". 998 on August 15, 1998 (National Day in South Korea), Patterson was on the list of amnesty, received amnesty from South Korea, and left prison. He was a eccentric man who took advantage of the South Korean police's negligence to apply for a restricted exit order and fled from South Korea on August 24, 1999 the following year and hid back to the United States. Although South Korean prosecutors and police want to restart the case to investigate Patterson's suspicion, it is difficult to stretch. Local public opinion in South Korea has become hot again. Edward, who is constantly seeking appeals, was acquitted on September 3 and was able to return to the United States due to insufficient evidence.
Both murder suspects left South Korea as innocent, so who killed Zhao Chongbi?
Although the South Korean prosecutor, police and judicial officers know that the murderer must be among these two people, it has become impossible to prove that any of them is the murderer because of the conflict of testimony and insufficient evidence. They can only sigh. Even if there is regret and hatred, South Korea has no way to resolve this murder case for a while. Zhao Chongbi's family can only hold sadness and continue to look for opportunities to give their families justice, but hope is slim after all, and this case has become a well-known unsolved case that lingers in the hearts of Korean society.
009's actual movie adaptation of the movie "Itaewon Murder". The power of
movies has created public opinion pressure, which has led to the police suing Patterson again on December 22, 2011, and demanding that the US extradition of , begging to retrieve Patterson within the 15-year public prosecution period with only three years left. In October 2012, the United States agreed to the South Korean side's request to extradite Patterson back to South Korea for trial. After twists and turns, Patterson finally entered the South Korean gate again on September 23, 2015 with handcuffs. But when he got off the plane and accepted an exclusive interview with the media, he still denied the murder.
Arthur Patterson, who was arrested in the United States in 2012 and extradited back to South Korea.
"It is wrong to let them (the victim's family) experience this pain all the time, but it is also wrong to be brought here."
When Patterson was escorted to South Korea in handcuffs, he declared so to media from various countries.
Patterson says the murderer has always been Edward Lee.But this time the South Korean court was unwilling to accept his statement. The new testimony shows that Patterson had repeatedly shown to his friend Choi's surname in the United States: "I killed , and what about the Koreans who can't treat me? ." With the addition of new physical evidence, the South Korean court finally sentenced Patterson as the real murderer on January 25, 2016. Because he was under 18 years old at the time, he was finally sentenced to 20 years in prison. The case was officially announced to be solved.
But does this mean that Edward Lee is an innocent bystander? The South Korean court actually doesn't think so. The investigation shows that Edward is likely to encourage Patterson to kill, and is the accomplice of this murder case.
However, since Edward has been sentenced and has been acquitted, he cannot be convicted of the same case again.
This case was officially announced to be solved.
That night in Itaewon was supposed to be a happy night of friends, but Patterson's friendship with Edward led to an unforgivable crime together. Who killed college student Zhao Chongbi? Is Patson the last convicted? Or Edward with insufficient evidence? Or are two ignorant boys who join forces to take the lives of innocent people in cruel laughter, but are unwilling to take responsibility and destroy each other's lives?
Although Korean justice can finally give Zhao Chongbi's family a belated justice, I'm afraid that the night of Itaewon will still be a shadow that is difficult to erase in Koreans' hearts.
Nowadays, "Itaewon Class" is widely loved by people. When I talk about Itaewon's past to my friends who are watching the drama, they always find it hard to believe that there is such a history behind "Itaewon Class".
Stills of "Itaewon Class"
It must be said that "Itaewon Class" really once again exerted its publicity power of drama series and "whitewashed" Itaewon.
#Itaewon Class##Itaewon Murder Incident#
