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Itaewon Burger King Murder took place on April 3, 1997 when 21 year old Hongik University student Jo Jong-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 American father and Korean mother) is the main suspect. Later Patterson and his friend Edward Lee were arrested but they released by 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 the DNA testing indicated he was the killer.

Information of murder
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 3rd, 1997, where they went to the first floor of the same building to order hamburgers from a fast food restaurant. 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 coincidently came in contact with Jo Jong-pil and stabbed him 9 times using the pocket knife. After, they returned back to the 4th floor and cleaned the blood in the bathroom. Patterson returned to Eighth United States Army base to meet his friend and changed pants then burned his blood stained clothes and threw away the pocket knife used for murder. On April 4th, the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) received an anonymous report and arrested Patterson. In April 6th, after seeing Lee friend 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.

Controversies of murder
Although the fact that an 18 year old teenager murdered an innocent person shocked many people, the case became complicated as investigators didn't investigate the case properly. As the investigators couldn't speak English, they had problems interrogating which slowed down the initial investigation, both Patterson and Lee also claimed that they were standing next to them and 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 wasn't convicted of murder but of possession of weapon.

After the first trial for the murder, it was ruled that Lee was guilty of murder. However, the Supreme Court of South Korea ruled that Lee was innocent because the evidence was insufficient. Patterson was guilty 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 departure to the United States making it difficult for further investigation. The family of Jo Jong-pil claimed damages against the country although during the first and second trial they were neglected. 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 the Department of Justice for extradition on December 15th, 2009. It has later been confirmed that Patterson has been arrested by the United States law enforcement since October, 2011.

Current situation of murder
After the murder case, Jo Jong-pil's parents requested a reinvestigation and Patterson the lead suspect who fled 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》broadcasted an episode multiple times the topic started to rise again. On October 10, 2011 it was reported that suspect Patterson was arrested and 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 isn't approved".

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 which is April 2012. To avoid the controversy of statute of limitations completion, prosecutors announced on 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, it the possibility for indictment of Lee has remained unclear.

October 2012, the Los Angeles federal court ruled that Patterson repatriated to Korea.

However, Patterson submitted a Habeas corpus petition to the federal court in California, USA causing repatriation to take longer. Currently, he is in custody at the LA Downtown Federal Detention Center.

Media

 * March 6th, 1999 SBS 《I Want to Know It》broadcasted an episode about this murder
 * September 9th, 2009 a film about this based on this case《The Case of Itaewon Homicide》was released.
 * December 19th, 2009 SBS《I Want to Know It》broadcasted an episode about this murder
 * November 11th, 2011 《Commissioner K》broadcasted an episode about this murder and crime related to the US army in Korea

Film

 * The Case of Itaewon Homicide