A Portland jury acquitted last week Antonio Igisomar Wabol, a native of Saipan who was accused of fatally shooting a student after an armed robbery at a convenience store 35 years ago.<\/p>\n
Wabol\u2019s sister told Saipan Tribune yesterday that she\u2019s very happy with the verdict because the allegations are very serious.<\/p>\n
The sister, who asked not to be identified, disclosed that she attended the new trial last May 4 and 5 because she testified in court. She said when the verdict came out last Wednesday, she had already left for Seattle.<\/p>\n
According to Portland news reports, after deliberating for two hours, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict finding Wabol not guilty of aggravated murder.<\/p>\n
In July 2013, the Multnomah County Circuit Court declared a hung jury after the jurors were deadlocked.<\/p>\n
Portland police arrested the then-52-year-old Wabol in Oregon in February 2012 for the murder of 29-year-old Myong Su Cho, who was shot after an armed robbery at the Plaid Pantry near the Portland State University campus on Jan. 18, 1980.<\/p>\n
Cho was as employee of Plaid Pantry and was a student at Portland State University.<\/p>\n
The investigation grew cold due to the few leads that were available at the time. Then police didn\u2019t have the technology to identify suspects by DNA.<\/p>\n
In 2011, Portland Police Cold Case Homicide Unit investigator Dennis Baker, a retired detective, reexamined the case and submitted evidence to the Oregon State Police Crime Lab.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said a makeshift mask found near the crime scene was submitted to the Lab and that DNA on the mask came back a match to Wabol.<\/p>\n
Wabol\u2019s DNA was reportedly already in the system due to his prior conviction for hitting a man with a hammer in Washington County.<\/p>\n
In January 2012, a Multnomah County grand jury indicted Wabol on two counts of aggravated murder with a firearm over the killing of Cho.<\/p>\n
At the new trial, the defense reportedly argued, among other things, that there were five people, including Wabol, whose DNA was found on the mask.<\/p>\n
According to the prosecution, Wabol, who was 20 at the time, was also a student at Portland State University and stayed near the Plaid Pantry.<\/p>\n
Wabol reportedly left Saipan after graduating from high school in 1979. On Saipan, he is more popularly known as Isidro and not Antonio, according to his brother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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