Joe Son

Joe Son
Born Joseph Hyungmin Son
(1970-11-22) November 22, 1970
South Korea
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment
Criminal status Incarcerated in Salinas Valley State Prison
Conviction(s) Torture

Joseph Hyungmin "Joe" Son (Korean: 손형민; born November 22, 1970) is a South Korean convicted felon, former mixed martial artist and actor. He is currently serving life in prison in California for torture and murder.[1]

Early life

Son was born in South Korea. He moved to California at an early age.[2]

Mixed martial arts career

Joe Son
Born Joseph Hyungmin Son
(1970-11-22) November 22, 1970
South Korea
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Weight 236 lb (107 kg; 16.9 st)
Division Heavyweight
Fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Mixed martial arts record
Total 4
Wins 0
Losses 4
By knockout 1
By submission 3
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Son Hyungmin
Hangul 손형민
Revised Romanization Son Hyeong-min
McCune–Reischauer Son Hyǒng-min

Son was a mixed martial arts fighter and retired with a record of 0–4.[3] He made himself infamous for wearing a leopard thong and sporting makeup during his fights. Son was also a professional wrestler in Japan for a short time, wrestling Shinya Hashimoto at the WRESTLE-1 event and working as singer and dancer for HUSTLE.[4] He appeared at UFC 3 as the manager of MMA fighter Kimo Leopoldo and competed himself in UFC 4 and lost against Keith Hackney in a fight made infamous by the amount of groin strikes against Son,[5] which were legal at the time.

Acting career

Son is best known for his role in the 1997 blockbuster movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery as Random Task, a parody of the James Bond character Oddjob.[6] Son has also appeared in several other movies, including Joshua Tree, the first two Shootfighter films, Bloodfist V: Human Target,[4] and a leading part as the main villain in the Lorenzo Lamas action film Viper in 1994.

Criminal convictions

Son pleaded guilty to felony vandalism on May 16, 2008, he was sentenced to 60 days in prison and was placed on probation after his prison sentence ended. On Aug. 18, 2008, he was taken into custody and given an additional 90 days in prison, due to a probation violation for failing to report to the Department of Probation and keep them informed of his current residence. As a condition of his original plea agreement, Son was required to provide a DNA sample. In early October 2008, his DNA sample was linked to a 1990 Christmas Eve gang rape. Already in custody for a probation violation, Son was arrested at the Theo Lacy facility on October 7, 2008.[7]

In October 2008, Son was charged by California authorities in relation to his participation in a 1990 gang rape. He was initially charged in Orange County, California, with five counts of rape, two felony counts of forcible sodomy, two felony counts of sodomy in concert by force, seven felony counts of forcible oral copulation, and one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object by force. He faced a maximum sentence of 275 years to life if convicted.[3][8]

Son and an accomplice tortured and repeatedly raped the victim before releasing her with her pants tied around her eyes. During the trial, the woman said that Son told her, "It's Christmas. This is your lucky day." Before jury selection began for his trial in early August 2011, the initial charges against Son were dropped having expired due to the statute of limitations. Son was then charged with conspiracy to commit torture and murder, crimes which have no statute of limitations.[9] In late August, Son was found guilty of one felony count of torture.

During the trial, the Orange County District Attorney's Office maintained that both Son and his co-defendant, Santiago Lopez Gaitan, pistol-whipped their female victim, repeatedly threatened to kill her, and raped her before finally releasing her. Gaitan, 40, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of kidnapping, sodomy by force in concert, rape in concert, forcible oral copulation, and forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement for committing rape while armed with a firearm. He was sentenced Jan. 28, 2011, to 17 years and four months in state prison. On September 19, 2011, Son was sentenced to life in prison.[7]

In October 2011, Son was accused of killing his cellmate, Michael Thomas Graham, a convicted sex offender.[10][11][12] The murder happened on October 10, 2011, on "B" Yard Reception, building 5 at Wasco State Prison. The beating occurred at 5:25 PM and Graham died 25 minutes later.[13] After the murder occurred, Son was moved to solitary confinement.[14] On September 13, 2013, Son was officially charged with Graham's murder. His trial is set to begin in March 2016.[15]

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 0–4 Jukei Nakajima TKO (shoulder injury) Pride The Best Vol.2 July 20, 2002 1 0:54 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 0–3 Joe Moreira Submission (terror) Xtreme Pankration 2 April 12, 2002 1 N/A Los Angeles, California, United States
Loss 0–2 Yusuke Imamura Submission (elbow injury) Pride The Best Vol.1 February 22, 2002 1 0:33 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 0–1 Keith Hackney TKO (groin strikes) UFC 4 December 16, 1994 1 2:44 Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

Kickboxing record

Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 0–1 Japan Nobuaki Kakuda KO (Punch) K-3 Grand Prix '95 July 16, 1995 1 1:40 Japan Nagoya, Japan [16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Joe Son". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  2. ↑ "Joe Son". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  3. 1 2 Child, Ben (October 10, 2008). "Austin Powers Henchman faces life in prison". The Guardian (London). Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  4. 1 2 "The MMA Mental Hall of Fame: Joe Son a.k.a. Random Task". ColinTimberlake.com. 2009-01-17. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  5. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVr2T_cBA_s
  6. ↑ Liddy, Tom (2008-10-10). ""Austin" Actor in Rape Bust". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  7. 1 2 "'Actor Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1990 Christmas Eve Gang Rape of Woman who was Walking Her Dog'". Orange County District Attorney Press Release. September 9, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ "'Austin Powers' Actor Charged in Unsolved Gang Rape". FOXNews.com. October 10, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  9. ↑ Welborn, Larry (August 16, 2011). "'Austin Powers' actor on trial in rape case". The Orange County Register. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  10. ↑ Jailed Austin Powers actor and MMA fighter pleads not guilty to killing cellmate 'with combination of kicks and blows', The Daily Mail
  11. ↑ "Joe Son Suspected in California Inmate’s Death". Sherdog.com. October 11, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  12. ↑ Howard, Greg (2011-10-12). "Austin Powers Actor Suspected of Killing Cellmate". Slate.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  13. ↑ "Former movie actor charged with murder". KGET-TV. 2013-09-12. Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  14. ↑ "'Austin Powers' Actor Suspected Of Prison Killing". Huffington Post. October 11, 2011.
  15. ↑ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-live-to-tell-my-name-is-victoria/
  16. ↑ http://k-1sport.de/en/database/show_fighter.php?id=503

External links

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