Chinatown Murder Case

A string of unsolved murders in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1970s led police to the door of a young Korean immigrant named Chol Soo Lee — who was quickly arrested and sentenced to life in prison. But when investigative journalist K.W. Lee started digging into the case, he discovered a world of twisted law and order that went far deeper than one man. The articles K.W. wrote about what he uncovered in Chinatown shocked Asian Americans across Northern California to stand up and demand justice for Chol Soo Lee — and themselves. Corrections: In this episode we state that Chol Soo Lee had a mustache in the photo that appeared in the mug book. Correction: He did have a mustache at the time of the killing, but he did not have a mustache in that photo. We state that K.W. Lee learned of Chol Soo Lee stabbing a fellow inmate from a TV news segment. Correction: He learned about it in a news briefing. We state that K.W. Lee was at the premiere of the documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee.” Correction: He attended the premiere virtually in January of 2022. He physically attended a screening in August of 2022 when the film was released in theaters. Guests: Sojin Kim , curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Ranko Yamada , friend of K.W. Lee and Chol Soo Lee Julie Ha , journalist, writer and co-director of the documentary film "Free Chol Soo Lee"

You can listen to Chinatown Murder Case online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Chinatown Murder Case is an episode from Sidedoor by Smithsonian Institution .

This episode is 48:08 long.

This episode was published on Feb 18, 2026.

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