An international manhunt for a suspect in a botched murder-for-hire killing in the Bay Area has ended with an arrest halfway across the world.
On the evening of June 27, 2016, police received a 911 call for a shooting in a residential part of San Jose. On the 1700 block of Cape Aston Court, officers found Justin Tran, 26, dead from a gunshot wound. Upon investigating, San Jose police learned Tran, who was in a car, was being trailed by multiple people “lying in wait.” When the car came to a stop, at least one suspect ambushed Tran, shooting him dead.
As the investigation continued, detectives learned that Tran wasn’t the intended target; it appeared this was a murder-for-hire gone wrong. Four suspects were identified, and three were taken into custody. But a fourth, South Korean national Myung Jin Kim, remained on the run.
San Jose police listed Kim on its list of most-wanted fugitives, sharing his photo widely on social media. “After extensive social media exposure,” San Jose police said in a press release that Kim went to the U.S. Embassy in Laos to inquire about travel documentation. Laos does not have an extradition treaty in place with the U.S., so despite Kim’s status as a wanted fugitive, he was allowed to leave the embassy. San Jose police were informed of his location, however.
During the course of the yearslong investigation, San Jose police learned that Kim was also wanted on suspicion of murder in Orange County. Two years after Tran’s killing, Kim was arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs and gun charges in Orange County. But while out on bail on Sept. 5, 2018, Kim allegedly got into a fight with a friend, Christopher Kim, 26, in a Westminster CVS parking lot. The argument, which law enforcement says was over money, escalated into Myung Kim shooting Christopher Kim six times in front of a witness. Christopher Kim died of his wounds.
Officers from Orange County, Santa Clara County, the FBI, Department of Justice and other agencies began speaking with law enforcement in Laos when they learned of Kim’s location. Laotian police agreed to arrest Kim, now 31 years old, on suspicion of immigration violations, and he was flown back to LAX on June 9.
“Kim’s removal from Laos marks the first time a wanted fugitive has been returned to the United States from Laos,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a joint press release issued Friday.
After being processed in an Orange County jail, Kim was taken into custody by San Jose police on June 10. He is expected to be tried in Santa Clara County first, then sent back down to Orange County for his trial there.
“Justice knows no borders and we will go to the literal ends of the earth in the pursuit of justice,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the press release.
Katie Dowd
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