Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
“Evil Villain” is an episode of Death by Fame that will be aired on ID on Monday, March 4, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. It will delve into the crimes and convictions of Joseph Son, who played the role of a Korean assassin named Random Task in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
In August 2011, Son was found guilty of torture in connection with a gang rape of a woman from Orange County. The torture and assault happened on Christmas Eve in 1990 at Huntington Beach. He was caught in 2008 after his DNA matched with a 19-year-old victim of sexual assault whom two men abducted.
According to the Orange County District Attorney, Joseph Son, along with an accomplice, abducted the woman while she was walking her dog and pulled her into a car on December 24, 1990. As she was returning home, they reportedly stopped her and asked for directions before they kidnapped her in the car. They then beat her with a gun and raped her. Son and the other accomplice also threatened to kill her multiple times.
After being sexually assaulted, the victim reportedly begged for her life. She was then dropped off from the car, naked and blindfolded with her pants. Son was only charged after his DNA was entered into the database in relation to a vandalism case. Until then, the case remained cold for nearly two decades. Santiago Gaitan was Son’s accomplice who pleaded guilty to multiple sexual assault charges in 2011.
How many years in prison was Joseph Son sentenced to?
While he was serving time in the Wasco State Prison in 2011, Joseph Son also beat his cellmate, Michael Graham, to death. He was then convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Authorities initially charged him with assault by a life prison with force causing death. However, he was only found guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Graham was reportedly on suicide watch owing to his troubled being around 30 days before the killing, according to Bakersfield. Graham was in prison after he was identified as a convicted sex offender. He was found dead in his cell on October 10, 2011. Son was 40 years old at the time.
Joseph Son was first convicted in September 2011 for the torture of a California woman. He was then sentenced to life in prison. After the manslaughter charge in 2017, Son was sentenced to a maximum penalty of 27 years. If he were convicted of the initial charges of assault by a life prisoner with force causing death, he would likely be given a life sentence without a chance for parole, Bakersfield reported.
Meanwhile, Santiago Gaitan, Son’s accomplice in the 1990 rape and torture of a woman, was sentenced to prison for 17 years and four months. He pleaded guilty to multiple sex crimes, CBS News reported.
The Death by Fame episode “Evil Villain” will air on ID on Monday, March 4, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
