Suspect in retired cop's '96 slaying nabbed in S. Korea

A fugitive wanted in the 1996 slaying of a retired Philadelphia cop was captured Tuesday by authorities in Seoul, South Korea.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham announced the arrest of David Heyon Nam, 30, who had been on the lam for 10 years, at a news conference yesterday.

He's being detained by Korean authorities at the main detention facility.

"We never let our man escape," Abraham said, adding that her office intends to "press this case vigorously."

Nam, a U.S. citizen, will be handed over to U.S. authorities after a Seoul court sets the date of extradition.

Nam was on the Philadelphia FBI's most wanted list. He had been wanted on federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and a state charge of murder.

Nam jumped $1 million bail on March 12, 1998 and fled to South Korea.

At the time, he was awaiting trial in the August 1996 robbery and murder of 77-year-old Anthony Schroeder inside the victim's home on 4th Street near Olney Avenue.

Nam allegedly was the leader of a robbery gang that had been on the prowl for holdup victims.

According to published reports, he and three accomplices found the front door of Schroeder's home open, figuring he was an easy mark.

When Schroeder, who was watching TV at the time, saw Nam and another man at his front door, he grabbed a gun and walked toward them.

Nam allegedly fired a shot through the screen door, hitting Schroeder in the chest, killing him.

Three accomplices pleaded guilty in the case and were prepared to testify against Nam at trial, but they never got the opportunity.

Nam was subsequently arrested near Seoul in March 1999 after he was identified on a Korean television show similar to "America's Most Wanted" called "Pursuit: The 25th Hour."

But he was released from custody shortly thereafter because there was no formal extradition treaty between South Korea and the United States.

A treaty was ratified in December 1999.

Meanwhile, Nam was nowhere to be found, but two investigators here continued to work the case and stayed in touch with Korean authorities.

Kevin McShane, an FBI agent, and Kwang Sonny Shin, a narcotics investigator from the state Attorney General's office, went to South Korea in 2003 to assist authorities after they learned that Nam's parents had moved back to South Korea from Montgomery County and that Nam had gotten married and had a child.

Yesterday, McShane and Shin said that Nam used aliases and changed jobs frequently - teaching English at private institutes - to elude authorities.

McShane said that he routinely passed on tips to Korean authorities to look for Nam in areas where he had relatives living.

On Tuesday, the hard work paid off.

The key break in the case came when investigators lifted a fingerprint that matched Nam's from a beer can they retrieved from garbage.

Authorities tracked down the fugitive, but he denied being Nam. They asked him to remove his shirt because they knew he had two distinctive tattoos.

He removed his shirt, and the word "NAM" was tattooed on his right arm and the word "COBRA" on his back.

McShane said he learned of the arrest when he opened his e-mail Tuesday morning. There was a message from the FBI's assistant legal attache in Seoul.

It read: "Kevin, I know you haven't celebrated in years because Philly hasn't produced a championship team in 15 years, but now you can celebrate on this. Nam is in custody." *