By I can remember the 2001 St. Patrick’s Day night that the American student Jamie Penich was murdered in Itaewon very clearly because I was out on the town that night and actually visited the bar that Penich was last at, though not at the same time so I never saw her. The murder definitely sent waves through the USFK community because it was suspected that a USFK servicemember was the person responsible for the murder. Many servicemembers were questioned about what they saw in Itaewon that night but no arrests were ever made.
This case took so many twists and turns that it could be made into a movie, but ultimately Penich’s friend was the only person charged with the murder which included allegations of lesbianism and a confession from the suspected killer to US authorities. However, the case continued to take more twists and turns as the suspected murderer withdrew her confession during the Korean court trial and was found innocent and now that not guilty verdict has been upheld:
The Supreme Court upheld yesterday a lower court ruling acquitting an American student on charges of murdering another U.S. student in Korea in 2001. The court said there was insufficient evidence to convict Kenzi Snider, 24, of killing Jamie Lynn Penich. Ms. Snider had been accused of beating Ms. Penich to death in a motel in Itaewon in March 2001.
The court said it did not accept Ms. Snider’s confession to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation because it was later retracted. After questioning in Korea, Ms. Snider was questioned by the F.B.I. in the United States and confessed to the murder. Extradited to Korea in 2002, Ms. Snider disavowed her confession at her trial here. The court said evidence from another country’s authorities is only admissible if the suspect confirms it to a court here.
I highly recommend that everyone read this Court TV report on the murder because the twists and turns this case takes is truly amazing, while the murderer is still at large. I wonder if the authorities could have solved this murder if they didn’t just focus on the GI murderer stereotype from the beginning of this case like they did? There will probably never be any justice for Jamie Penich’s family, but read the report to draw your own conclusions.
9:31 pm on August 23rd, 2009 1
I was reminded about this case today. Two things I remember from the reading is how the US MPs and Korean police worked together in looking for a possible GI suspect and thinking there was no way in hell it would fly in the US. In one case, they took a Korean woman from the hotel on base and in a parking lot brought out a GI for possible 1-on-1 identification – not a lineup. That would only work in the US if the crime had just happened and the suspect were stopped near the scene. The other was a GI, maybe the same one – I can't remember – who was put in a lineup he said was comprised of foreigners from Southeast Asia from the UN ceremonial squad – honor guard or something and that he knew they were really gunning for him at that point.
3:21 pm on July 19th, 2011 2
Weren’t they focusing on a GI murder suspect because of who she’d last been seen with and a description of who was seen at the motel itself?
4:16 pm on July 19th, 2011 3
From the articles I read, it seemed like they focused on a GI because of testimony from the woman eventually arrested for the murder. There were some good quotes from her in the reports where she pointed the finger multiple times at soldiers.
There was also a worker at the motel that mentioned seeing a white guy in the hallway that might have had something that looked like blood on his pants leg. But, it also seemed like that motel had a number of foreigners in town to party on St. Patrick’s day.
I can’t fault the authorities for looking into the soldier angle based on what (lies) they were told by the woman who likely killed her, especially added with the motel worker’s statements.
I do fault US authorities for bending over backwards to try and make a case against one soldier. I don’t know if what they did holds up in the military justice system, but it would never have flied in the civilian world in the US.