Korean men wanted in California killings to fight extradition
Brought through Douglas Port

By Jonathon Shacat
Wick News Service
Published/Last Modified on Saturday, July 5, 2008 3:06 PM MDT


BISBEE — Two men wanted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office in connection with a homicide involving four victims declined to be voluntarily returned to California during an extradition hearing Thursday in Cochise County Superior Court.


Jae Hwan Shim, 39, and Tae Won Kwon, 37, are accused of using a samurai sword and a baseball bat to chop and beat to death Shim’s ex-wife, her two children and a relative who was a NASA engineer, and then setting the house on fire June 23, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Shim and Kwon were escorted by Mexican immigration authorities to the Douglas port of entry on Saturday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers determined they were wanted in the murder case and turned them over to Douglas police for processing, said Brian Levin, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection.

As a result of the defendants’ decisions in court in Bisbee on Thursday, formal extradition procedures will begin. The state of California must now request their extradition through the Arizona governor’s office.

If Gov. Janet Napolitano grants the request, the defendants will be returned to California. If the governor grants the extradition, the defendants have the right to contest being extradited by filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus that basically seeks a review to determine if they are being imprisoned illegally.

The defendants are each   being held at the Cochise County Jail on $1 million bond. A 30-day review hearing for them is scheduled for July 30 at 9 a.m. in Cochise County Justice Court Precinct 2.

During the extradition hearing, the state was represented by Deputy County Attorney Gregory Johnson. The defendants were represented by Gilda Terrazas of the county’s public defender’s office.

A Korean language interpreter also was present to translate for the defendants.

Division 5 Judge James Conlogue presided over the hearing. It took place in the Cochise County Jail rather than in the Cochise County courthouse due to security concerns.

Copyright © 2012 Douglas Dispatch

Comments

    davideric wrote on Jul 25, 2008 2:37 PM:

    " So... have the cops figured out if they were involved in the strange disappearance of Si Young Yoon? "

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