Man sentenced to life in brothel murder case
A 22-year-old man on Friday was sentenced to life without parole for killing his brothel boss in December 2010.
Keon Park pleaded guilty in May to first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges for killing Young Park, 39, and burning her body. The two were not related.
Keon Park’s co-defendant Min Soon Chang, 33, still faces murder and kidnapping charges in the case. If convicted, Chang could face the death penalty. He is set to stand trial Jan. 26.
The woman’s body was discovered by hikers Dec. 23, 2010 near Kingman Wash, about a mile from the O’Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge.
Authorities said the two men strangled and beat Young Park with a wrench and then burned her body on the Arizona side of the Hoover Dam. The men tried burning the body first with lighter fluid and, when that didn’t work, went back the next day and burned it using gasoline, Las Vegas police said.
Investigators said Young Park ran an escort business and brothel out of a home near Rainbow Boulevard and Desert Inn Road. She owed Chang about $6,000 and Keon Park about $3,000. Chang was her driver. Keon Park booked appointments.
Chang and Keon Park confessed their roles in the slaying, authorities said.
Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe.
