Saipan native acquitted in 35-yr.-old murder case

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.

Wabol’s sister told Saipan Tribune yesterday that she’s very happy with the verdict because the allegations are very serious.

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.

According to Portland news reports, after deliberating for two hours, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict finding Wabol not guilty of aggravated murder.

In July 2013, the Multnomah County Circuit Court declared a hung jury after the jurors were deadlocked.

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.

Cho was as employee of Plaid Pantry and was a student at Portland State University.

The investigation grew cold due to the few leads that were available at the time. Then police didn’t have the technology to identify suspects by DNA.

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.

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.

Wabol’s DNA was reportedly already in the system due to his prior conviction for hitting a man with a hammer in Washington County.

In January 2012, a Multnomah County grand jury indicted Wabol on two counts of aggravated murder with a firearm over the killing of Cho.

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.

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.

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.