By Juanita Copeland
A Nelson white supremacist has been jailed for a minimum of 16 years and three months for his part in the murder of a Korean backpacker.
Jae Hyeon Kim's disappearance went unsolved for nearly five years until police discovered he had been the victim of a brutal hate crime.
Shannon Brent Flewellen, 30, told his probation officer he has been involved in the white supremacist, neo-Nazi movement since he was 16.
Justice Fogarty says Flewellen’s beliefs largely contributed to the murder.
“Your [Flewellen’s] beliefs hardened you to not recognising his [Mr Kim’s] dignity and right to live and in that respect it is a murder with a high degree of callousness,” he says.
With co-accused Hayden McKenze, Flewellen picked up the Korean backpacker as he was hitch hiking on a remote West Coast road in September 2003.
A short time into their journey the men told Mr Kim they were pulling over to check on a cannabis crop.
Once they had him outside the car, Flewellen grabbed Kim in a choke hold until he began convulsing. He then dropped him on the ground, stomped on his neck and left him for dead in a ditch.
Gangs researcher Jarrod Gilbert says numbers in white supremacist gangs are increasing because of the stress of recession and high unemployment.
“Sadly I think racism is only an itch beneath the skin of many people and when they feel frustrated and when Pakeha, particularly youth, get together these feelings are accentuated.”
He says the most concerning thing about these gangs is that their hate crimes target completely innocent people.
“It's incredibly rare that people would be murdered outside of the gang scene, however in the skinhead culture because there's an attitude fostered of hatred and hate crimes then outsiders tend to be targeted much more openly.”
It was five years after Mr Kim's death that Flewellen was charged and his remains were finally sent back to his parents in Korea.
It will be at least 16 years and three months before Flewellen is out of prison.
3 News
source: newshub archive
