Posted 6:46 AM by Murph.

Kenzi has been charged with "causing serious bodily harm", a charge which, I'm told, cannot lead to execution or a life sentence if she is found guilty. It could still lead to her being imprisoned for several years or deported and barred from reentering Korea. E-mail from Kenzi's mother:

Hello Everyone- (this is either good bad-news or bad good-news)

No better way to say it than the original email to me...

We were informed today that the Prosecutor submitted charges against
Kenzi to the courts on Thursday, January 16th. Kenzi is charged with
causing serious bodily harm. Although the charge is less than murder, the
Prosecutor informed us that the minimum sentence, if she is convicted, is
three years. A judge will be assigned to the case in two or three daysand the case will be scheduled for trial shortly after assignment to a
judge. I will follow-up and let you know the trial date.

There are three possible outcomes at this point:
- Acquittal and release,
- Acquittal and deportation, or
- Conviction, serving the sentence, followed by deportation.

If she is convicted, it is almost certain that she will serve a prison
sentence in Korea, followed by deportation. Normally, a person deported
from Korea is returned to the country of nationality or the country from
where he or she last came. Our experience is that Korean Immigration is
not too particular about the final destination as long as its outside of
Korea.

If Kenzi is deported, she will be finished in Korea. She will likely bebarred from re-entering Korea for five years or more. Korean Immigration
only makes their decision about how long she will be barred from
re-entering after admission once they take custody of Kenzi from the
Korean justice officials. I believe she would only be liable to criminal
prosecution in the U.S. if the Koreans had failed to extradite and try
her in Korea. She may be liable for a civil case in the U.S. For both
questions, I recommend that you speak with a lawyer in the U.S.

So, this is how it stands at the moment. I do not know the dates,
but I am preparing substitute plans for three weeks to cover any
contingency. Slowly, but surely the case against Kenzi is being whittled
down. Each time the pressure is less and less. I am confident that the
truth will win int he end! Please keep the prayers flowing with hope and
assurance. I have seen and felt the power and I thank you all. the
notes and messages sent to me to encourage and console me are
heart-warming beyond words. I do not feel alone in all this, and it
is thanks to your prayers. As usual, when I get more information I
will send it off to you faithful friends.

Most Sincerely, Heath Bozonie (Kenzi's mom, as if you don't know that by
now)

Google news shows 28 articles on Kenzi in the last day, but they all appear to be pretty identical copies of the same newswire story. Here's the Huntington Herald-Dispatch version, and the straight-up Associate Press version from PennLive.com.

Posted 12:19 PM by Murph.

The latest from Kenzi's mother:

Hello Everyone (information from Korea)-

This was an email sent to me by the Consular Officer in Seoul.

"I went to visit Kenzi today. She appears well and she said that the
guards and the other prisoners at the detention center have been very
kind to her. She said the other prisoners have given her so many gifts of
food that she has practically filled a small cupboard in her room. She
has the money that you deposited in the account for her, but she has hadlittle need to use it because of the generosity of others. She is in a
small room by herself. The room has an adjoining Asian-style toilet. She
has a small TV in her room. It is cold here in Korea but she said she has
been comfortable with the Korean-style floor heating (andol) and the five
blankets which have been provided to her. She has been served Korean food
but they are supplementing each meal with a fried egg sandwich. She said
she has had no medical problems. She sends her love.

"I believe I described the schedule of the legal process in Korea. I
think I mentioned that once the Police pass the case to the Prosecutor,the days, the Prosecutor may ask for an additional ten days, which he hasdone in Kenzi's case. The Prosecutor indicated to us that they will makea decision on her case on Wednesday, January 15, the day after tomorrow.I will let you know as soon as I hear. Kenzi said the lawyer you hiredhas visited her once at the detention center. Normally, lawyers play abigger role after the person has been charged.

"If she is released without being prosecuted, we will probably hear on
Wednesday. If she is tried and acquitted, she may be released or she may
be deported. If she is found guilty, no matter what the sentence, I would
expect that she would be deported. When a person in the Korean justice
system is deported, the person is transferred directly from the detention
center or prison to Korean Immigration. Immigration has their own
detention facilities and will hold Kenzi until she can pay for her own
deportation. You may be able to purchase the ticket for her or send her
money through us for her to buy a ticket. If you make the arrangements
quickly, Kenzi would only be in Korean Immigration detention for a couple
of days. She will have access to a telephone once she is transferred to
Immigration detention.

"Kenzi is still at the Youngdeungpo Detention Center in Seoul where you
visited her.

"It may also be possible for you to send her emails. Kenzi said to go to
the web site for the detention center (www.ydc.go.kr) and click on the
mailbox icon. I tried it and all the instructions are in Korean, and we
were unsuccessful in figuring out how to submit a message. There appearsto be a form that you post. See if one of your Korean-speaking friendscan help or let me know and we can see if we can assist you to use theform."If she is charged and if the trial starts within the next two week, wewill see her next at the trial. If the trial does not start for more thantwo weeks, we will try to see her again before the trial. We plan to
attend her trial."

I will write when I have more news. thank you everyone for your notes and
letters!!

Most Sincerely, Heath Bozonie (Kenzi's mom)

She also sent along Kenzi's new mailing address in Korea. E-mail murph@commonmonkeyflower.net and I'll give it to you.

Posted 7:37 PM by Murph.

And now for something a little different. No links, nothing from Kenzi's mother, but a response to a pair of e-mails I've received and to the fact that the Herald-Dispatch seems to be using me as a source.

The first e-mail reads:

Subject: i guess confessions don't count?....

I'm from out near Greensburg,Pa. I'm just wondering about the victims in this story? Why weren't they notified of snider's trip to Korea? It stinks! Now they should be kept abreast of all whats going on also. But my true thoughts are, I can see being bullied into a confession. Local authorities (and our authorities also) would've been under tremendous preasure to get this brutal crime solved.And I'm sure that "trickery" would have been used against Snider. Such as promises of a light sentence being near home to serve the time,etc. If she didn't do it,I only hope of a fair trial to free her. If she did do it,then I say to the gallows!
You are doing a good thing,keep up the good work!

The second:

Subject: newspaper story

One must be careful, what one wish's for. Kenzi's mother says things can
be over in 10 days,or 60 days. That could also mean a Public Hanging could
take place in or on the same time frame... True. She should keep her comments
to herself. Kenzi broke the law, admitted to it and must face the penalty.
That it. (period)

First of all, I have to point out that I am not a first-hand source. All of my information comes from either Kenzi's mother's occasional e-mail updates or from articles I find online in various newspapers. It bothers me slightly that this webpage has become a source of information for some of those articles; if I've got information wrong and the newspapers pick up those mistaken facts and relay them as truth, the positive feedback loop will reinforce the incorrect information and both I and the papers will be confused.

Next, the writer from Greensburg, PA, inquires as to why the victim's parents were not notified. I have to say that I do not now, and have never, had any contact with Jamie Penich's family. I did exchange e-mail, briefly, with Penich's fiance--he and I were both of the recipient list of Kenzi's mother's first e-mail (Heath has been writing from Kenzi's account, so she merely sent the e-mail to everyone in Kenzi's address book, and he happened to be in it), and he responded with a request that she not send him e-mail. So that avenue of providing information to Penich's family was closed. More importantly, it is neither my responsibility nor Heath's to be keeping Penich's family informed. The fact that Kenzi was extradited should have been relayed to them by the American government, not by us. And I agree that they should have been informed--but notice that Kenzi's mother was not even informed that Kenzi was being extradited until Kenzi was already in Korea. So official information is flowing slowly all around.

Third, I do not claim to be an unbiased observer. Kenzi is a good friend of mine, and I believe her to be innocent, both from conversations we had shortly after she returned from Korea (when the murder occurred) and from the evidence which has been presented in Kenzi's hearings more recently. As such, I am confident (or, at least, very optimistic) that she will be found innocent if/when she goes to trial. And, while I would be able to accept a guilty verdict from a trial, I highly doubt that the death penalty will be issued even in the case of a guilty verdict. The evidence against Kenzi (a confession which she has since retracted) is flimsy, and the evidence that it was *not* Kenzi is strong, so I believe any reasonable court would find not enough evidence to turn down a sentence of capital punishment, even in the event they decided her to be guilty. This is the view I'm writing from.

Finally, I have to point out that I am very sympathetic to the Penich family. They suffered a horrible loss, and I would not wish that on anyone. Under the circumstances, I can understand how they would latch onto an accusation made against Kenzi as hope that their daughter's killer would be brought to justice. However, I just don't believe that Kenzi is guilty, and that makes their determination to see her dead all the more tragic. Not only have they lost a daughter, but they want to see somebody else lose a daughter to soothe their feelings. I believe that every bit of energy put into trying Kenzi is energy that would be better spent tracking down the real killer, because I don't think she's it. Had you talked to Kenzi immediately after she returned from Korea, after Penich's death, and heard the story from her, you would not believe it either. Even if you merely look at the material evidence in the case, though, you will have severe doubt that Kenzi is guilty. I urge you to do that before you go making statements that Kenzi "broke the law" and "must face the penalty".

Posted 7:11 PM by Murph.

An update from Kenzi's mother, in Korea:

Dear Everyone (a note from Korea)-
I arrived about a week ago (whatever happened to the time?). The embassy
has been very helpful. I got to visit with her, they even took her cuffs
off and let us hug and talk and hold hands. It really was a wonderful
Christmas gift. I brought a bag of goodies for her the next day, and they
let most of it in (including colored pencils for her coloring books!). I
can visit every day and most anytime I wish. The Police took Kenzi to the
crime scene (that was very difficult for her). She enacted what she had
done, but when they asked her about the "confession" she said she could
not remember what was in it and would have to read it first. She said shedid not feel they believed her. One of the FBI agents at the
interview/interrogation drove me to the Police Station the first time I
visited her. It was rather a wierd feeling. We had a conversation
afterward and he wants me to convince her to "tell the truth" that it was
an accident. I agreed there had been a big accident, but I! didn't thinkshe was the one who made it.I have secured a lawyer. He has a 22 year old daughter, so I thought he'd
understand well. She is studying in Canada and is being the translatorfor him. She is very good, she makes sure everyone understands before she
continues. I have confidence in him. I just hope we will not have toactually use him. It could be that the judges will look at everything and
let her go. There is that possibility.The lawyer has given me an assignment to write a life's history of
significant events for both Kenzi and myself. Whoa, this is hard! Wish meluck!
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and and that you shall havea joyous New Year! Please keep us in your prayers. I hope we can havesomething good and positive come from all this. I hope this never happensto any one else ever!

Most sincerely yours, Heath Bozonie (Kenzi's Mom)

Several articles have also been published while I've been offline over christmas; much of their content is stuff we've all read before, but some interesting bits:

• The Stars and Stripes, a US military publication, notes that Kenzi could receive the death penalty if convicted, but also points out that no foreigner has ever been executed under Korean law, and that nobody at all has been executed under the current Korean President.
  
• The Korean paper Joongang Ilbo says that Kenzi is claiming to be innocent, and cites a Korean lawyer, who says there is little chance for conviction if she maintains her innocence and there is no additional evidence forthcoming.
  
• In a case of circular citation, The Huntington Herald-Dispatch has two articles (link points to first, second one here) about the extradition. I'd just like to point out that it looks like a lot of their info is coming from this site, and all of the information I have is either from Kenzi's mother, Ms Bozonie, or from news articles. They do seem to have talked to several other people, such as her lawyer from the extradition hearing stateside, and people from the US State Department, though, so it's not a complete case of journalistic inbreeding for me to be linking to them.
  
  
  The initial ten-day period for building a case would seem to be about up; none of the articles, nor this most recent e-mail from Heath seem to indicate that a decision has been made. (Though this e-mail is a few days old, since I haven't been online in a while.)