Community Corner

Woman Acquitted in Santa Monica Model's Slaying

Kelly Soo Park, 47, had been accused in the March 15, 2008, strangling death of Juliana Redding, who once appeared in Maxim magazine.

By Terri Vermeuelen Keith
City News Service

A woman once described as a "female James Bond'' was acquitted Tuesday of first-and second-degree murder in the slaying of a 21-year-old aspiring model in Santa Monica -- a killing prosecutors claimed was carried out in response to a failed business deal involving the victim's father.

Kelly Soo Park, 47, had been accused in the March 15, 2008, strangling death of Juliana Redding, who once appeared in Maxim magazine.

The six-man, six-woman jury initially acquitted Park of the first-degree murder charge, but indicated it was having trouble reaching consensus on the lesser charge of second-degree murder. The jury's foreman even said some of his fellow jurors were disregarding the judge's instructions during deliberations.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy gave the prosecution and defense 10 minutes each this morning to make additional arguments to the jury on the issue of second-degree murder. Jurors, who have been deliberating for more than a week, returned a not-guilty verdict less than an hour later.

Redding was found dead in her apartment in the 1500 block of Centinela Avenue in Santa Monica after her mother called police to say her daughter had failed to show up for a photo shoot. Prosecutors said her killing was carried out in response to a failed business deal between a doctor Redding once dated and the victim's father, an Arizona pharmacist.

Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese argued during trial that the "evidence is overwhelming with the DNA,'' while defense attorney George Buehler countered that his client stood accused of a slaying committed by someone else.

DNA matching Park was recovered from the crime scene, including the victim's neck, tank top, cell phone, front interior door and a knob on the stove, which had been turned on apparently in an unsuccessful attempt to cause an explosion, the prosecutor told jurors in her closing argument.

"The evidence is she was there on the night of the murder,'' Okun-Wiese said, telling jurors that the defense attorney ``wants you to come to an unreasonable conclusion about how the defendant's DNA got to that location.''

Park's attorney countered that the prosecution's case "rests entirely on DNA evidence,'' and told jurors that the prosecution had not proven its case.

"There are ways that DNA could have gotten there. ... It doesn't tell you how it got there, when it got there,'' Buehler said, adding that "the transfer of DNA is an important issue to think about in this case.''

Okun-Wiese told jurors that Park or her company had received more than $1 million in an 18-month period from a company belonging to Dr. Munir Uwaydah, who had earlier been romantically linked to Redding and who had been involved in business negotiations with Redding's father, Greg.

Redding's death occurred five days after her father pulled out of a potential deal with Uwaydah, who has not been charged in the case. In court papers, prosecutors contended that Uwaydah had described Park as a "female James Bond.'' He left the country and is believed to be living in Lebanon.

Buehler noted that his client's DNA could have been carried to the crime scene on items that she touched in Uwaydah's home and were later moved to Redding's apartment.


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