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Background

Joe Son was a D-list actor who had small roles in Bloodfist 5, Bad Blood, and the 1997 movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

He also had a few MMA fights. He fought at UFC 4, where he got beat in the groin and ended up getting choked out. He returned to MMA in 2002, but he lost all 3 matches. By 2018, his fighting career and MMA career were over, and he was living a normal life in California.

DNA Linked To A Cold Case

In May 2018, he was arrested for kicking his roommate’s car door. He later pleaded guilty to felony vandalism. He was sentenced to 60 days of probation, and he was required to submit a DNA sample.

Within weeks, he violated his probation and was rearrested. Little did he know he would never be free again. They ran his DNA, and he was connected to a gang rape that occurred on Christmas Eve of 1990.

He was charged with several counts of sexual assault and sodomy, but due to the statute of limitations, those charges were dropped. He was later charged with torture and conspiracy to commit murder.

His accomplice, Santiago Gaitan, was also arrested.  Gaitan knew he was screwed and pleaded guilty to kidnapping and several other charges. He was sentenced to 17 years and 4 months in prison.

Son took the case to court, and at his trial, the DA told the jury that Son and Gaitan kidnapped the woman as she was arriving home just after midnight.

They drove her to Huntington Beach, where they pistol-whipped her, threatened to kill her, and violated her before they let her go.

The victim testified that Son told her, “It’s Christmas. It’s Your Lucky Day”.

Son was found guilty of one count of torture. On September 19th, 2011, he was sentenced to 7 years to life in prison.

Murder of Michael Graham

One month later, the 3rd degree black belt beat his 50-year-old cellmate, Michael Graham, to death at Wasco State Prison. Graham was serving a two-year sentence for failing to register as a sex offender.

He was charged with murder in September 2013. At his trial in 2017, he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to an additional 27 years in prison.

He will now have to serve 34 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.