Two employees indicted in slaying of illegal brothel owner
Two Las Vegas men have been indicted on murder charges in the December slaying of their brothel-owner boss over a $9,000 debt.
Min Soon Chang, 30, and Keon Kyun Park, 19, will stand trial on one count each of murder with use of a deadly weapon, armed robbery, first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon and two counts of conspiracy in the death of Young Park, 39. Keon Park is not related to the victim.
The woman’s body was discovered by hikers Dec. 23 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. They tried burning the body first with lighter fluid and, when that didn’t work, they went back the next day and burned it using gasoline.
According to a Las Vegas police report, the two men burned her body because she was an undocumented illegal immigrant and they hoped authorities would not be able to identify her. But one of her hands was undamaged by the fire, allowing investigators to identify her from fingerprints taken in a past minor arrest.
Authorities 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, and Keon Park booked appointments.
The defendants have confessed to their roles in the slaying, authorities said.
Keon Park and Chang are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. They are to be arraigned in District Court on Jan. 28.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
