Edmund Ko Trial: 2000

Ordinarily the high-point of a major trial comes when the defendant takes the stand, but on this occasion Ko chose to exercise his right to silence, leaving Claudia Seong to take center stage: except that the jury never got to hear what she said—or rather didn't say. In the early days of the investigation, Seong had cooperated with police, claiming that Ko had confessed the murder to her, even brandishing Hong's wallet as a crime scene trophy. But when a grand jury began investigating her own involvement—if any—in the death of Lynda Hong, Seong had suddenly clammed up.

Anxious to safeguard Seong's interests in light of any subsequent charges, Judge Harold Beeler ruled she could only be questioned out of the jury's hearing. Litman was furious. Beeler rejected his pleas to have jurors present, saying Seong's already well-reported reticence would not help jurors to decide the current case and could "create the impression" that Seong was guilty of the crime.

Diminutive and dressed in black, Seong proved to be as difficult as anticipated, parrying everything counsel threw at her.

"Did you falsely incriminate Edmund Ko to the police to shift the blame away from yourself in the murder of Lynda Hong?" demanded Litman.

In a whisper, Seong replied, "I take the Fifth Amendment," invoking her right against self-incrimination. When Litman accused her of having conspired with Jae Young Shin to murder Hong, she again took the Fifth; and again when Litman pushed her on allegations that she had become "enraged at Lynda Hong" for calling Seong "a prostitute."

Prunty fared no better. She wanted to know about Ko's alleged confession, and whether Seong was living with Ko and intending to marry him at the time of the killing. Again and again Seong fell back on the protection of the Fifth Amendment. It was a ploy she used no fewer than 37 times before stepping down from the stand.

What bearing Seong's testimony might have had on the trial's outcome had the jury been present is unknowable: what is certain is that on July 27 they convicted Ko of second-degree murder.

On October 16, 2000, following an emotion-packed hearing at which the deceased's relatives hurled invective at Ko, Judge Beeler said he was imposing the maximum sentence because the murder was a display of "great heinousness and depravity … This young woman was a remarkable person for many, many people … a shining light … He extinguished her life without any reason."

Ko received a prison term of 25 years to life.