SEOUL — A U.S. Navy sailor, who was convicted of murdering his Korean-born wife and four-year-old son and burning their bodies in December 1998, was sentenced to life in prison early this month, it became known June 18.
A spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said, ¡°A military judge sentenced Petty Officer lst Class James A. Fuhrman to life in prison on June 8 for murdering his Korean-born wife Lee Choon-ja, 42, and a boy, Bobby, they were raising in December 1998.¡±
Fuhrman pleaded guilty to the murders during a general court-martial May 5. Commander Keith Allred, the presiding judge of the case, also ordered Fuhrman be demoted in rank, receive a dishonorable discharge and forfeit all pay and allowances. Fuhrman, 38, was arrested Jan. 27 last year by Korean police after the burnt bodies of his wife and son were found two days earlier at a construction site one mile from Hannam Village, near the Yongsan base in Seoul.