Culture on Trial: The Wrongful Conviction of Han Tak Lee

Episode 67

In 1989, a fire at a religious camp in Pennsylvania claimed the life of 20-year-old Ji Yun Lee. Her father, Han Tak Lee, a Korean immigrant with no criminal record, was swiftly arrested, tried, and sentenced to life in prison. But what seemed like a clear-cut arson case quickly unraveled into a cautionary tale of flawed fire science, cultural bias, and the dangers of rushing to judgment.

In this episode, we examine how prosecutors built a case on burn patterns and cultural ignorance—and how modern fire investigation and one relentless expert helped expose the truth. Han Tak Lee spent 24 years behind bars for a crime that science would later prove never happened.

This is the story of how culture was put on trial—and how justice failed.

Background music by Not Notoriously Coordinated 

Get your Crime to Burn Merch! https://crimetoburn.myspreadshop.com

Please follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube for the latest news on this case. You can email us at [email protected] We welcome any constructive feedback and would greatly appreciate a 5 star rating and review. 

If you need a way to keep your canine contained, you can also support the show by purchasing a Pawious wireless dog fence using our affiliate link and use the code "crimetoburn" at checkout to receive 10% off. Pawious, because our dog Winston needed a radius, not a rap sheet. 

Sources:

From Magic to Law: The Han Tak Lee Case and Arson Investigation — National Association for Public Defense

https://publicdefenders.us/blogs/from-magic-to-law-the-han-tak-lee-case-and-arson-investigation

Locked Away for 24 Years, Han Tak Lee Still Feels Imprisoned — The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/nyregion/locked-away-for-24-years-han-tak-lee-still-feels-imprisoned.html

Han Tak Lee v. Houtzdale — U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit (2015)

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-3rd-circuit/1710954.html

Old Arson-Murder Rap Tossed, Man is Set Free— USA Today

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/22/arson-murder-han-tak-lee/14451491/

Kim Honors Han Tak Lee with Legislation — Queens Chronicle

https://www.qchron.com/editions/north/kim-honors-han-tak-lee-with-legislation/article_ddc61e5b-e920-5ac7-a1e9-18955a35763f.html

Han Tak Lee Case Overview — International Network for Innocent Arson Defendants

https://www.niad.info/Han_Tak_Lee.html

Han Tak Lee — Pennsylvania Innocence Project

https://painnocence.org/hantaklee

A Calculated Arson: The Han Tak Lee Case — John J. Lentini

https://www.academia.edu/38962288/A_Calculated_Arson_The_Han_Tak_Lee_case_John_Lentini

Author Blurb for Upcoming Book on Han Tak Lee — David DeKok

https://daviddekok.com