Hollywood dreams: The murder of Juliana Redding
Two Years Later
While it may have seemed to many that the case had gone dormant, languishing for two years, in fact Santa Monica investigators had spent thousands of hours trying to piece together facts that might lead them to a suspect. However, investigators remained tight-lipped about the case, as they had from the outset, even when arrests were finally made. On Friday, June 18, 2010, police arrested Camarillo, Calif., resident Kelly Soo Park, 44, along with her roommate, Ronnie Wayne Case, 34, without incident or fanfare, on suspicion of murder with special circumstances and conspiracy. DNA evidence reportedly linked Park to the crime.
"Detectives with the Santa Monica Police Department worked in cooperation with law enforcement agencies from the Torrance Police Department, Oxnard Police Department, FBI, L.A. IMPACT and Ventura County Combined Agencies Team," Sgt. Jay Trisler said in a press release.
Police did not immediately reveal a motive for the alleged homicide, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office ultimately declined to file charges against Case, pending additional investigation, and Case was soon released. Prosecutors did allege, however, that Park had entered Juliana Redding's apartment the day before her body was found and "physically assaulted her, causing her death." It was later reported that Juliana's battered body had shown evidence of strangulation and that a bone in her throat had been crushed. At the time charges were laid against Park, prosecutors asked that bail be set at $1 million.