Three years ago today, Uniontown, Pa. -- Lt. Michael Metros is driving past the police station when he sees him -- Andrew Rogers, leaning against the front fender of a green Honda.
The officer pulls his patrol car into the parking lot and approaches the stranger. "I need to talk to somebody," Rogers says.
"What can we help you with?" Metos asks, walking with him into the station.
"I need to talk to somebody," Rogers repeats.
"I think there may be a body in my kitchen."
On Feb. 23, 2006, Penn State student Youngcheol Park went to his friend's house to watch a movie and do his homework. Five days later, police entered the house and found his body.
Park's friend, Andrew Rogers, testified in court that he killed Park, but insisted he acted in self-defense when a mysterious third man instigated a fight.
Despite Rogers' claims, he was convicted of third-degree murder in April 2007. His story was a source of controversy, as Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira questioned the validity of Rogers' story and the existence of the third man. However, evidence has surfaced that defense attorneys argue supports Rogers' claims, and in December he was granted a new trial.
While his story has been scrutinized by skeptics, Rogers has provided the only eyewitness account of Park's death. The following is a reconstruction of Rogers' story of what happened three years ago this week, based on police records, Rogers' own court testimony and other accounts.
Feb. 23, 2006
224 Nimitz Ave., State College
Andrew Rogers is in bed, recovering from a late night with his friends.
Many of them work at local bars and restaurants, so their poker games don't start until 2 or 3 a.m. Andy's house is ideal for this. He's 28 and basically lives by himself. Friends come over, drink beer, play poker and spend the night.
They had played a lot of poker during the last week, throwing in $10, $20 or just an IOU for 100 chips and friendly competition.
The friends who slept over last night have already left, and Andy is alone with the TV on.
His phone beeps. It's a text message -- Youngcheol Park wants to come over.
Andy met Young the previous fall at a poker game, and the 24-year-old became one of the guys -- playing cards, drinking beer, smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine.
Young arrives and sits down -- but he seems agitated. He's talking faster than usual and bringing up old conversations in which he and Andy had never seen eye-to-eye.
They decide to just watch TV, maybe a movie after that.
Meanwhile, Young asks if he can do some cocaine. Andy says OK and Young breaks out a CD case, does a line himself and offers a line to his host. Andy accepts. During the movie they each smoke a joint of marijuana, and Young does a few more lines of coke.
After the movie, Young asks if he can do his homework at Andy's house. He's an aerospace engineering major who plans to graduate this semester. No problem, Andy tells him -- he can even use the computer in the basement.
Young and Andy get into Young's white Hyundai Santa Fe and drive to his Aaron Drive apartment. Young goes downstairs to gather his books. As they leave the apartment, a dark sedan slows behind them. The window rolls down.
"Yo, Young," says a voice from inside the car. "I thought I'd find you here."
Young walks around to the passenger side of the car as Andy watches from a distance, hearing bits and pieces of the conversation with the driver.
As Young steps aside, the man inside the car slides from the driver's seat to the passenger side and calls out to Andy.
"Do you mind if I come?"
Andy shakes his head. He doesn't mind.
They return to Andy's house, and Young's friend parks along the street. Andy watches from the front door, waiting for the man to climb out of his car. He doesn't get out.
Leaving the door cracked for his guest, Andy joins Young inside and begins emptying the pockets of his Adidas jogging pants onto the bookshelf -- wallet, keys, cell phone, cigarettes and a lighter.
A minute or two later, Young's friend, the man whose existence has never been verified, finally enters.
He's in his early 20s, not short but not tall, with blue eyes and olive skin. He has a soft, round face, his dark hair matched by neatly cropped sideburns. Andy asks the man his name but isn't sure if he hears the response correctly.
"Sweet?" Andy asks.
Looking over Andy's shoulder, the stranger mumbles his response.
"Something like that," he says.
The three men make small talk on the couch, and Sweet asks if Young and Andy have been partying.
"Not really," Young says.
"Well, could anything be going on?" Sweet asks, spotting the razor, straw and CD case on the coffee table. Andy quickly picks up the items, but Sweet persists.
"You guys into this?" he asks, tapping the paraphernalia.
"Not mine," Andy says.
Sweet asks again if anything could be going on. "I could," Young says.
Sweet looks at Andy. "You guys want to party tonight?" he asks.
Andy says no, but Sweet ignores him and asks Young about getting cocaine.
"The money up front," Young says.
Sweet looks to Andy again -- does he wants to split some coke? Andy declines.
"Could you loan me some cash?" asks the stranger. "You know I'm good for it. You know Young. I know Young."
Although they just met, Sweet seems offended when Andy rejects his proposal, and the two sit in an awkward silence until Andy puts in a movie.
"Can I use that computer now?" Young asks. It's time for homework.
Andy leads Young downstairs. As he returns, he sees an empty couch. Sweet's pacing.
"You know, maybe we can get something started," Sweet says.
Once again, Andy says he's not interested. After a few minutes, he feels uncomfortable alone with Sweet and asks Young if he can do his work upstairs.
Andy and Young return to the living room. Sweet's still pacing. Young lays his backpack by the dining room table. Sweet, smiling, retreats to the couch.
"I thought you didn't have any money," he says, tapping a wad of bills on the coffee table.
Still smiling, he unfolds the money -- about $850 -- and begins counting it. Realizing Sweet took his money from the bookshelf, Andy grabs the bills from the visitor's hands.
Some fall through Sweet's hand, and Andy snatches the bills off the ground. Not sure if it's a joke, Andy sits down and counts his money.
"I thought you didn't have any money, and if I wanted that money, I would have taken it," Sweet says. "And if I really wanted that money, I would just rob you."
Andy's getting upset now.
"I would have taken that," Sweet says. "I could do it if I wanted."
Sweet stops talking and Andy relaxes, watching the movie.
That's when it happened.
He hears a noise from over his left shoulder, and turns to see Sweet opening a black garbage bag as if he's going to pull it over Andy's head.
Andy leans forward, escaping the bag. He pulls a rolling pin -- a joke from his collection of martial arts weapons -- from between the couch cushions. As Sweet lunges over the couch, Andy swings wildly at his at upper body.
"Are you a tough guy?" Sweet asks, dropping the bag. "Do you want to go?"
Andy prepares to fight Sweet as the stranger puts up his hands.
Suddenly he feels a hand in the middle of his back. It's Young.
He grabs Andy's shirt and pulls on his left arm as Sweet throws a punch. Andy ducks and the punch grazes his head. He shoots back up, knocking Sweet on the side of the head with the rolling pin.
Now he faces Young. The student releases his hold on Andy's shirt and grabs his throat.
It's two against one.
Andy pries open Young's grip and falls back, pulling Young into a sloppy sleeper hold.
Young says he's going to kill him.
Andy readjusts, struggling to hold Young down. He's out of shape -- he's a smoker.
They struggle on the floor until Andy reaches for the garbage bag and throws it over Young. Young stands up and Andy whacks him with the rolling pin. He tears through the bag and Andy hits him until the rolling pin shatters.
Young, bleeding from his face and nose, dives at Andy and knocks him to the floor. Young reaches for a beer bottle against the wall. He tries to grab it, but Andy hits him, picks up the bottle and smashes it over his head.
Young puts his hands up, and Andy turns his attention to Sweet -- on all fours by the couch.
Andy snags his black baseball bat from beside the TV. He tries to kick Sweet, but the stranger catches his foot and pulls him closer. Hopping on one foot, Andy hits him twice with the bat, forcing Sweet to drop his hold.
With his foot free, Andy looks over his shoulder at Young. He's back on his feet and reaching into his bookbag.
He pulls out a revolver.
Andy takes two running steps and swings at Young, flailing the bat up and down until the gun finally falls to the ground near the threshold of the dining room and kitchen.
Young falls into the kitchen, reaching for the gun that has never been found. With a sweeping motion, Andy steps into the room and swings the bat, pushing Young near the refrigerator.
His friend -- bloodied from the fight -- stops for a second as he lies on the floor. He looks up at Andy.
Andy stops, too. The poker buddies stare at each other.
Then Young raises his right hand as if to grab the gun. Andy swings the bat at him again.
Young stops, resting on the ground as Andy stands over him. Andy turns around and sees Sweet coming into the dining room. He squares off at him and the stranger retreats to the living room.
For the last time, Young reaches for the gun -- Andy hits him again and places the bat across his chest. Dropping his knees on the bat, Andy pins Young to the floor and looks for the revolver.
Somehow, Sweet beats him to it. He's standing in front of them, the gun raised.
Andy puts his hands in front of his face as Sweet points the gun at his head. Andy faints.
The aftermath
The next thing Andrew Rogers remembered was waking up next to Youngcheol Park's dead body. He jumped off the ground, threw off his bloody clothes and vomited in the bathroom.
After taking Park's wallet, which contained $250, Rogers left his house and drove toward his mother's home near Pittsburgh. He called his roommate and made up an excuse, telling him not to return to the house at 224 Nimitz Ave.
He needed to talk to someone and visited a friend, who suggested contacting the police. Instead, Rogers tossed Park's wallet in a mall garbage can and checked into a Motel 6.
Then, on Feb. 27, four days after Park's death, Rogers drove to Uniontown, meeting Lt. Michael Metros in the police station parking lot. In the early morning hours of Feb. 28, State College Police forced entry into Rogers' house and found Park's body.
Rogers was arrested and charged with first- and third-degree murder. Police were unable to find the third man Rogers said instigated the fight. Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira concluded Sweet was a fictional character and Rogers was "making up a story to help himself."
On April 13, 2007, after about nine and a half hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Rogers of third-degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.
Centre County Chief Public Defender David Crowley, who represents Rogers, filed an appeal in January 2008 after evidence surfaced a month earlier that Park's Rolex watch was purchased by Ronnie Starr, who was arrested as part of a separate drug investigation.
Starr said he bought the watch from a cocky, stocky Italian, known only as "B" -- who Crowley believes must be Sweet.
"If they were any more identical, you'd have to say that Ronnie Starr broke into the police department and picked out that police report," Crowley said. "It's just too bizarre to think that it's just a coincidence."
Although Park was not wearing the watch Feb. 23, and police believe it was stolen from his apartment weeks after the student's death, Judge Bradley Lunsford granted Rogers a new trial in December 2008, saying Madeira had illegally suppressed this evidence.
Rogers was granted bail in January, but it was set at $500,000. He is currently an inmate at SCI Greene maximum-security prison in Waynesburg, awaiting his new trial, Crowley said.
Park was cremated. His ashes were carried to several locations on the Penn State campus before being sent to his parents in South Korea.
Sweet has never been found.
