Out of Reach | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] we were a bunch of women who came from all over the world to Soul in 1988 to
teach English Korea was transforming and opening up its doors to the West the 1988 Olympics really
represented South Korea debut on the world stage we were helping teach English to
Koreans so that they were prepared for the new world coming into their Peninsula it was an interesting time it
was a dangerous time there was Sandra she took me under her wing and we definitely bonded Kathy
Patrick she was the head teacher kind of our boss I was definitely a party girl and then there was Carolyn Abel she
was sparkly she was beautiful really funny she had a wicked sense of humor my sister Caroline was an
adventure people did notice her she was vibrant she attracted people's attention she had become friends with
all of us but particularly with Kathy they were like sisters life that year was great we had
so much fun we worked hard we played hard we party at night everything was going so
well all our fun came to a sudden crashing halt when one of us Carolyn Abel was murdered it was absolutely horrible
brutal violent there were multip stab wounds I can't even begin to describe what that loss has
been like somebody had detonated a nuclear bomb in the middle of the family so whoever killed Carolyn is
still out there we're at Newark Airport about to head overseas to try to find some
answers what happened to this woman Carolyn Abel and where did Carolyn live carollyn
lived over there um out in this direction here out in this direction I've been asking questions for
30 years what happened the night that Carolyn was killed everybody loved Caroline who was in the
room who put the knife in why should anybody be able to get away with murdering somebody and never face
charges more than 30 years later our investigation has brought us here to a university in Bellingham Washington
where Carolyn Abel's alleged killer works we just got worried we're going to make our move now okay this is the
building we were so sure the enemy was on the outside that never occurred to any of
us that the killer was Among Us [Music] [Music] [Music] 48 Hours Out Of Reach reported by Peter
Van Sant for writer and author Nancy burcaw flying to South Korea in the winter of
2018 reopened a painful chapter in her life one of murder loss and fear not only were we Deb devastated about the
loss of Caroline we of course wondered who's [Music] next back and soul where should be our
first stop well I think we should go to the school to El where we all taught El is
the English language school this is is the neighborhood where Nancy met fellow teacher Carolyn Abel back in
1988 this is the school and the world was never the same for any of us who were in that building together on
December 20th the events of that day have haunted Carolyn Abel's family for more than 30
years and the Damage that's been done was just so devastating Wanda Abel remembers her
younger sister Carolyn as the center of attention from an early age this is our very first passport photo Carolyn is on
the right this is a passport picture with three people in it yeah she was the youngest and the cutest and the baby of
the family the youngest daughter of professors Dr Francis and Evelyn Abel Carolyn had a love of
Photography and a wander lust that took her around the world my mother said in retrospect it was almost like she knew
she didn't have a lot out of time she wanted to do as much as she could in the time she had and not waste a
second by the time she graduated from college Carolyn had already lived in Pakistan East Asia Germany and France
she would get Restless she didn't like being just in one place for too long that restlessness compelled Carolyn to
join the Peace Corp after college serving in Nepal where she taught English in 1987 Carolyn took another
teaching job in Japan where she met this man tomoyuki aagi a customs agent she's
always cheerful did she make you laugh yes she's funny Carolyn and tomoyuki began a relationship that very quickly
became serious did you fall in love with Carolyn oh yes Tomy Yuki did propose to
Carolyn and what was her answer do you know Carolyn was trying to decide whether she would be happy being married
and staying in Japan well contemplating a future life with tomoyuki Carolyn received an offer for another job 330 Mi
away and across the Sea of Japan and in the fall of 1988 Carolyn set out on her next great adventure in
life teaching English here in Soul South Korea and from the minute she walked into the staff room she was just breath
of fresh air she sort of looked a little bit like Farah faucet that's where Carolyn quickly fell in with Nancy burha
and the other American teachers at school like Sandra Ames who requested that we alter her current appearance for
this interview she was making her students laugh and sing and and have fun learning English and Tamara do she made
friends with everybody she was very very friendly so this is Kathy Carolyn also hit it off with the head teacher at the
school Kathy Patrick carollyn and Kathy Patrick were extremely good friends they
were considered if I can use a modern term besties the women taught traveled and
partied together expat life in Soul in the late 80s was wild and one place where our world's collided and that was
Ewan the red light district this is where Kathy and Sandra and Carolyn and Tamara and I would come so what we did
is we danced and drank like crazy [Music] people on the weekend of December 17th
1988 just 3 days before the murder Sandra Cathy Carolyn and some Korean students took a trip into the mountains
Carolyn took these pictures we spent the time looking at temples and hiking and then partying in the
evening classes were winding down for the winter break tomoyuki was getting ready to fly to Soul hoping to get an
answer to his marriage proposal on Tuesday December 20th Carolyn never made it to work and a lot of us missed work
on occasion for various reasons I was not at that point concerned but Kathy was concerned about Carolyn because she
couldn't get her on the phone Kathy was asking all of us had any of us heard from Carolyn no Kathy was very upset
convinced that something had happened to Carolyn and I said well maybe we should
go over there at that point some of our students drove us to Carolyn's apartment we went into the apartment and
Kathy discovered the body she was murdered brutally and horribly and in a way that she did not
deserve and we were just all in shock just trying to figure out what [Music] happened I think we all just felt like
what the heck hell is going to happen now are we in danger how would Sandra and Kathy ever
recover from the shock of seeing their dead friend where do we go from here [Music]
carlyn's apartment was on the 15th [Music] floor so here we [Music] are I'm Peter vanand and I'm a reporter
for CBS News and we are working on a story about a woman named Carolyn who used to live in your apartment and we
came by to ask you if if we may have permission to come into your apartment to take some video
pictures early in the afternoon on December 20th 1988 colleagues and students of Carolyn
AES came to this apartment building after she failed to show up for work Kathy Sandra and three Korean men
walked down this hallway surprisingly the door was unlocked and they went [Music]
inside who was the first person into the apartment Kathy she went did a beline right to the
bedroom Kathy came out of the room and said Carolyn's dead we need to call an ambulance no we need to call the cops
and she didn't want me to go look at the body so we have our shoes off and we're ready to check out the
murder scene this is the room where Carolyn Abel left this world and she put up a
fight in her last minutes of life she had a number of defensive wounds and she took the brunt of it more than 30 stab
wounds including a cut from ear to ear on on the throat and there was blood everywhere in here on the walls on the
bed it was a mess Korean police and press swarmed the apartment which had been ransacked and
within hours the murder led the national news in South Korea and I remember watching the news
and the cameras panning around the room and they kept going in on this teddy bear and it was really
horrible the impact of seeing her body wheeled out in a body bag really made it quite real it wasn't a
dream it became the nightmare that it really still is to this day how did you get the news of what had
happened to your sister I was at home and my mother called me she told me that Carolyn had been murdered and I just I
screamed we were just crying trying to figure out I mean how could this happen who
would want to do this to her everybody Lov Caroline why with the killer still out there
Carolyn's friends wondered could they be next we were all certain that perhaps a
Korean had probably killed her if a Korean hated an American this much was he coming after
the rest of us the shocked friends turned their attention to Cathy and Sandra who had discovered Carolyn's body
they seemed horrified I was so concerned about them they were hysterical it seemed as if they were
having a nervous breakdown Days Later Kathy Patrick led a memorial service for Carolyn I think it was quite
moving even now thinking about it you tear up a bit Kathy also wrote Carolyn's parents Wanda
still has that letter please know that I love Carolyn as a sister and a dear friend my roommate and I are the two
people who found Caroline in her apartment let me know if I can tell you anything in Japan Tomo Yuki learned the
love of his life was gone but he decided to make his trip to South Korea any anyway he stayed with Kathy and
Sandra even today after all these years 30 years this still gets to you doesn't it
yeah sorry in Soul rumors were swirling and South Korean police cast a wide net we were all suspects every single
teacher on the staff was interviewed you know the Korean police were in our faces
just like where were you how did you know Caroline what's your story why are you here why did you come to our country
are you secretly FBI we just kept thinking why are you asking me this get out there and find the real
killer then Nancy took a phone call in the teacher Lounge that moved the investigation in a whole new
Direction of like a Korean woman and then very quickly she said I know who killed Caroline I said what she said an
American military officer Nancy told the South Korean police who brought in detectives from the US
Army and very quickly therea John Boatright walked in John Boatright was a legendary chief of detectives for the
Army's criminal investigation division in South Korea he quickly eliminated the US military officer who was pegged as a
suspect by his ex-girlfriend he did not know carollyn able and it appeared that she was just trying to get revenge on
him for the bad breakup 3 weeks after the murder an autopsy revealed the cause of death a
stab wound to her right lung the report also confirmed her throat was cut in my opinion her throat was cut after she was
deceased after how unusual is that based on your experience very unusual so what did happen at Carolyn's
apartment and I was convinced that whoever did this probably knew Carolyn why because there was no signs for to
enter into the apartment it appeared that whoever was in that apartment knew her there were two coffee cups found in
the room if there's a to break in generally a criminal would not say hey let's let's have a cup of coffee before
I ransack your place and and attack you that certainly would not be normal like his South Korean
counterparts boat Wright decided to question Carolyn's colleagues who told him you really should look at the two
girls who found the body those two women Sandra Ames and Kathy Patrick [Music] we assumed that a Korean had probably
killed her but little did we know that the enemy was inside that staff room with us
[Music] [Music] just weeks after Carolyn ael's murder the investigation by John Boatright was
focusing on the two friends who had discovered her body roommates Kathy Patrick and Sandra Ames and do you get a
chance to question each of them no Kathy Patrick had already got on a plane left
Korea we had encouraged her to go she must have lost 15 lbs she just looked like someone who was
about to to break Kathy returned home to Washington State but Sandra was still in Soul I
took a statement from her and then I asked her uh did you kill Carol and she just sort of sat there and
stared at me she's just staring at you that's correct after about 30 seconds she was
very quiet but she said no that was just just not normal s maintains she had nothing to
hide so 2 months after the murder she waved her right to an attorney and agreed to take a light detector
test I remember being hooked up to all the wires in a darkened room he asked her do
you know where the murder weapon is and she said no and she really peaked out on that
indicating that she was not being truthful I said I'm not lying I'm telling the truth so we took it again with the same
results and at that point I said let me tell you about this picture in my head the picture was a dark shape on a
bed covered in a quilt that I knew was a body Sandra described that picture in her head as a fragmented memory of that
night as Boatright asked her for more details she told a new story it was nothing short of a bombshell the story
began with being in bed and having Kathy at the door of my room and coming in and
saying I think I killed Carolyn what with I asked and she said a knife where is it I asked
in the kitchen sink Sandra said she was in disbelief and asked Kathy to take her to Carolyn's
apartment where she saw her friend's brutalized body on the bed covered in blood to the best of my
recollection we sat in the living room at Carolyn's apartment and she convinced me manipulated me to help her make it
look like a robbery though she didn't mention it when we spoke with her Boatright says that
during their interview Sandra made another statement about her own actions that night after she walked in and saw
Carolyn's body she says I touched her arm and it was warm and at that point I realize that
she may be still alive and that she might testify against Kathy and so I went to the kitchen got a knife and came
back and I cut her throat to make sure she was dead remember Boatright believed that
wound was inflicted after Carolyn was already dead from the stab wound to the lung so what Sandra is telling you is
actually forensically matching up what was done to Carolyn's body absolutely but
Sandra's story quickly changed in these official statements Sandra wrote that Kathy had admitted to cutting Carolyn's
throat and today Sandra claims that the only reason she made that admission was due to false memories implanted by
investigators but she doesn't deny going to the crime scene or handling the murder weapon you did tell authorities
at the time that you cleaned a bloody knife I did I did and that was because I remembered putting the clean
knife into the dish rack Kathy had said that that was the knife she had used to kill
Carolyn it may seem far-fetched but Sandra claims those memories had been suppressed deep in her subconscious mind
until the interview with Boatright so are you telling me the truth yes yes because some of these
lapses in memory are kind of convenient oh they're very convenient but no this is the truth as I lived
it though Sandra story was bizarre to say the least investigators believed the core
details which never changed that Kathy woke her up and confessed to killing Carolyn and the two of them staged it to
look like a robbery and the evidence they collected appeared to back that up each time that she was interviewed later
she kept changing the facts to to limit her involvement in the murder but she never denied that uh Kathy did the
murder and she never denied that she was present uh just after the murder who do
you believe held the knife and murdered Carolyn Abel Kathy Patrick after her confession Sandra Ames
was kept in house arrest here in Soul five months later in July of 1989 she pleaded guilty to harboring a criminal
and depressing evidence I was fingerprinted photographed and put into a holding cell but why would Kathy want
Carolyn dead investigators uncovered a secret which provided a potential motive Kathy really fell for Carolyn Tamara do
was one of the few teachers who knew Kathy was gay and she would confided me you know I really like this woman I
think she's into me and and I'm like Kathy I don't really think she's gay you should really be careful Kathy told me
that she was in love with Carolyn and that her feelings were not necessarily returned I believe that Kathy and
Carolyn were alone uh during that initial attack the thing that makes most sense
to me is Kathy tried to kiss Carolyn and Carolyn pushed her away and rejected that kiss I think Kathy was so enraged
and angry that she lost control Kathy Patrick was now the prime suspect in Carolyn ael's murder a murder
warrant for her arrest was issued in South Korea back in Japan Carolyn's boyfriend
tomoyuki heard the news you stayed with Kathy at her apartment yes for her part in the alleged crimes
Sandra was sentenced to one year in prison meanwhile Kathy Patrick was back at home in Washington
state the South Korean government made diplomatic requests to return her to soul from the US to face a murder charge
but hit a wall there was no extradition treaty with Korea at the time and when she left they couldn't get her back
there why couldn't we see through Kathy and Sandra it's just unreal you know so in in one Fell Swoop you learn that your
friends are involved in this crime and that the one who might have been the Killer is free because of this loophole
and American law in the States Carolyn's family pushed for an arrest the US attorney in
Washington state said no you can't arrest her because she hasn't committed a crime in the United States there was
no jurisdiction to arrest her for murder and that's what pushed my family to say
wait a minute this isn't right but American authorities weren't finished with Cathy Patrick and soon
they would come fa face to face with her did you ask Kathy Patrick flat out did you murder Carolyn Abel yes I
[Music] did so this is one of the last pictures taken of her alive right right [Music]
in the days after Carolyn's murder Wanda worked overtime during the holidays to bring her
home we got her back in time to hold the funeral on New Year's Eve gone but never
forgotten Wanda Abel and her family were pushing the government to pursue a case
against Kathy Patrick who had left South Korea just weeks after Carol L's murder so do you believe this sudden
move from South Korea to the United States was in a way a an expression of consciousness of guilt yes well Kathy
knew she did it so she had to suspect that sooner or later somebody was going to put it together or the sander was
going to crack and tell on her so she spent as little time in South Korea as possible after she killed
Carolyn with Kathy Patrick back in Washington state Carolyn Abel's family was fearful they could be
targeted I was worried that Kathy would try to kill us because Kathy wrote these
letters to my parents that she was her great friend and that you know she'd loved to meet them and I was working
through my mind what would I do if I saw this person or if she showed up at my house despite the lack of an extradition
treaty there was still that South Korean arrest warrant for murder for Kathy Patrick my name is Steven schroer I'm a
retired assistant United States Attorney and I worked in Seattle they also asked
the US government for help what did the South Koreans want you to do among other
things they wanted me to take a deposition of Kathy Patrick and ask her some questions about the murder that
occurred in Soul it was 1989 when Scher was assigned the case with John Boatright and FBI
agents along with her lawyer Kathy Patrick willingly sat down with them to be questioned did you ask Kathy Patrick
flat out did you murder Carolyn Abel yes I did what did she say she said she did
not and did you present her with what her roommate had said yes and what did she say about that simply it wasn't true
and did Kathy try to shift blame at all did she point the Finger of Suspicion at
all at Sandra not with me Kathy also denied under oath that she was in love with Carolyn
Abel do you believe Kathy Patrick lied to you there was enough indication of that
to justify us doing further investigation yes my strategy at that point was if the
Koreans did not prosecute her then to look whether we could for basically false statements perjury
obstruction and Justice even though lie detector tests are inadmissible in federal court they
are a tool used by investigators to confirm deception Kathy Patrick willingly agreed
to take one and answer questions about Carolyn's murder The Examiner concluded that she was deceptive and deception is
why lying after the polygraph Kathy Patrick whom South Korea still wanted to arrest
for murder was free to leave is that frustrating it was very frustrating compounding Carolyn's
family's grief Sandra AMS was released from a South Korean prison after serving just 6 months of her one-year sentence
and it wasn't because of good behavior is it true you got out of prison because someone bribed a judge to
get you out yep absolutely we just couldn't believe it I mean 6 months for assisting a murderer and
covering up the crime scene and making it look like a burglary and not even telling anybody not talking I I don't
understand I when Sandra returned to the United States she was recruited by the FBI to
to go undercover and secretly record a reunion with Kathy Patrick in hopes of eliciting a
confession I didn't even call I simply went to her house and what does she say to you Sandra what are you doing here
probably and I think I said something along the lines of how could you have done that how could you have killed
Carolyn and she said I don't know what you're talking about without incriminating statements
from Cathy the feds were not able to press charges for perjury as long as she stays Within
These borders she's a free woman that's that's correct yes and with no extradition treaty in
Place South Korean authorities put the murder case on the Shelf I think the South Koreans were
taking the attit ude that this is a US problem it's two US citizens meanwhile Carolyn's family carried on with their
Quest For Justice my dad contacting every Congressman every Senator and he wrote to news stations 60 minutes
because he was hoping that if that happened then there would be more publicity more pressure while Kathy
Patrick carried on with her life if it is true that Kathy Patrick murdered your sister is she a a danger today to the
public I I think she probably is and who knows what would trigger some kind that
kind of violence again Kathy declined to meet with 48 hours so we went to her in Bellingham
Washington where today she's a counselor at Western Washington University okay guys we're going to make
our move now to Kathy Patrick's office hi hi Kathy Patrick hi hi Peter Van sand with CBS
[Music] News my sister never got to live her life why does Kathy get to live a full
life for almost three decades Kathy Patrick has lived a quiet life in Bellingham
Washington north of Seattle where for the last 18 years she has worked as a student adviser at Western Washington
University okay this is the building okay so when we get in let's move quickly to her office Cathy turned
down our request for an interview saying Carolyn's murder was too painful to talk
about but on this day her past was fast approaching hi Kathy Patrick Peter Van Sant with CBS News there are
investigators from two countries that have now are certain that you murdered Carolyn Abel what do you have to say um
I have to say that I'm innocent and that I don't know what happened after I found
Carolyn's body these are Kathy Patrick's first public words on the murder of Carolyn Abel in 30 years now your
roommate says just the opposite that you confessed to her and that the two of you
then went back over to Carolyn's apartment and staged the scene as a burglary no that never happened no so
she's lying to us when she told us that I believe she is you flunked a polygraph
test how did that happen I don't know the science of poly graphs I'm not surprised that I would um flunk it in
retrospect given how clammy and nervous I am right now and I'm even shaking it was a frightening
experience and I absolutely do not know what happened before I went to her apartment
and found her body it has been it has been 30 years since this isn't it time to come clean about this investigators are
certain that you committed this murder they are wrong if you didn't who did I believe it
must have been ases Sandra ases she says you did it and you had her go over and help manipulate
the room to make it look like a burglary that's not true another circumstance in all of this is that
people have you want these people to leave um can we stop right now these are important questions to be asked about
this um there were 30 stab Woods on Carolyn's body and friends say that you attacked her after she rejected you your
romantic advances no this has to stop now please um you're really sidelining me here and I'm not prepared to answer
questions here at my place of work this happened 30 years ago I have been a available to investigators in Korea and
in the US in her interviews with South Korean police a deposition and a polygraph test with American
investigators Kathy Patrick did not point a finger at Sandra Ames Steven schroer had a question about that for
Kathy well why didn't you tell us that 29 years ago when we recently contacted Sandra
Ames she told us she wasn't so surprised that Cathy tried to blame her and denied
having participated in Carolyn's murder if it went to trial I would be willing to testify I would need to
testify where should Kathy Patrick be today in your opinion she should be in prison plain and
simple thanks to the able family's lobing efforts in 1994 Congress passed a law that allows for the US prosecution
of us Nationals who kill other Americans in foreign countries and so today American families if their loved ones
are murdered abroad by an American um will have a very different experience in Carolyn Abel's family did
and I think I think we all owe them a debt of gratitude but in Carolyn Abel's case any
trial seems highly unlikely in South Korea the statute of limitations for her murder M has expired and the AEL family
says investigators told them the physical evidence in the case has been destroyed evidence that would have been
crucial for a trial in the United States no one should have to go through what my family went through how do we
live in a world where a US citizen can go murder a US citizen and then come back and live like nothing
happened that's the outrage of this in a case where nothing is simple the long path to Justice may never reach its
destination I honestly can't picture [Music] old cuz she was just always so so vibrant and so
energetic and I I I think she still would be you know I miss her she was like my
best friend we've all continued Our Lives as adventurous people but you know we kind of carry the memory
of Caroline behind us whatever ground we walk on it's hard not to remember that there's another one of us who could be
out there on the same path 48 Hours don't miss an episode [Music]

After 30 years, the prime suspect in the brutal murder of an American woman living in South Korea speaks out and maintains she’s innocent. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant investigates. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Carolyn Abel's 1988 murder in South Korea remains unsolved, impacting her friends and family for decades.

Key points

The Murder of Carolyn Abel. A vibrant teacher's life is cut short in a brutal murder, leaving friends and family devastated.
The Investigation Begins. Friends of Carolyn Abel are thrust into a murder investigation, questioning their safety and trust.
A Shocking Confession. A friend confesses to a chilling act, revealing a dark twist in the investigation.
The Search for Justice. Carolyn's family fights for justice as the prime suspect evades extradition.
A Heartbreaking Funeral. Carolyn's family holds a funeral on New Year's Eve, marking a painful end to their loss.
Kathy Patrick's Denial. Kathy Patrick claims innocence in the murder of Carolyn Abel, despite evidence against her.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Somebody had detonated a nuclear bomb in the middle of the family.

Describing the impact of Carolyn's murder.

2:09WatchJun 17, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.