Shelly Harmon confessed to the murder of a teenage girl that occurred in Arizona, USA, in 1988. / Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Although the perpetrator of a murder case that remained unsolved for 33 years in the United States was caught, the suspect was not sent to prison.
This is because the prosecution, unable to secure evidence for the murder charge, applied a plea bargain system that reduced the sentence in exchange for the perpetrator’s admission of guilt through negotiation. While plea bargaining is implemented in the United States and some European countries, it is not permitted in Korea.
According to an AP report on the 10th, a U.S. court confirmed that Shelly Harmon (50), who confessed to the murder of a teenage girl that occurred in Arizona in 1988, was allowed to go home without being sentenced to prison.
According to the report, Harmon initially denied the crime during early negotiations with the prosecution but confessed to the crime in March.
At the time of the incident, Harmon had a quarrel with her 19-year-old roommate Pamela Fitz over financial issues such as rent payment and withdrawal of savings. She then knocked Fitz to the floor and assaulted her multiple times, confirmed that Fitz was not breathing, and burned the body.
Details about how the body was burned were kept confidential according to the agreement with the prosecution.
The victim’s body was severely mutilated at the time, and identification was made through dental records as an autopsy was difficult to perform properly.
The police continued their investigation based on Harmon’s statement during a call with her father after the incident, saying “there was an incredible moment,” refusing to give up on the case.
However, no decisive evidence proving Harmon’s murder was found, and the prosecution eventually proposed a negotiation. The purpose was to uncover the truth of the case and resolve the unsolved case.
Harmon is currently settled on the outskirts of Carson City, Nevada, and is reported to be married.
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