Arthur Patterson was found guilty of the 1997 Seoul murder of a South Korean college student and sentenced to 20 years in prison this week.
A Seoul Central District Court claimed the 36-year-old American from California was responsible for the stabbing death of 22-year-old Cho Choong-pil at a Burger King restaurant in the
Itaewon district of Seoul, The Associated Press reported.
Patterson, who was 17 at the time of the crime, initially served 18 months in jail on lesser charges of elimination of evidence and possession of a
dangerous weapon, according to The Korea Herald. He returned to the United States in 1999 after he was freed in a special amnesty.
Patterson lived South Korea at the time of the murder while his father worked for the U.S. military as a civilian employee, the wire agency noted.
Edward Lee, who was also 17 at the time of the murder, was indicted for the crime in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison, but he was later cleared because of lack of evidence, according to The Herald.
Then, in 2009, a new investigation was launched, and Patterson was arrested in the U.S. in 2011, The Herald said. He was then extradited to Seoul in September.
Lee, who could not be convicted again because of the country's double jeopardy rules, testified against Patterson in the new trial, the newspaper said.
"There is credibility in statements made by Edward Lee, an accomplice, that [he] witnessed Patterson stabbing the victim," the
court stated in its ruling, the Yonhap News Agency reported. "Due to Patterson's crime, the victim lost his life at a young age and the opportunities to experience all sorts of human emotions."
"Still, [Patterson] shifted all the blame to his accomplice and did not show any remorse, requiring a grave punishment," the court added.
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