The Ivy League Murder

Summary

48 Hours: The Ivy League Murder – Detailed Summary

Episode Release Date: January 27, 2025
Host: CBS News’ Anne-Marie Green
Episode Title: The Ivy League Murder

---

1. Introduction to the Case

The episode delves into the harrowing murder of Kevin Jeong, a 26-year-old graduate student at Yale University, unraveling the complex investigation that led to the identification and conviction of the perpetrator, Kinshin Pan.

---

2. The Series of Shootings and Initial Investigation

The narrative begins with a series of shootings in New Haven, Connecticut, creating a climate of fear and urgency among residents and law enforcement.

• First Shooting (December 11, 2020):
  [01:33]
  Kevin Jeong is shot eight times near Lawrence and Nicholl Street. Despite multiple gunshots fired into an occupied residence, fortunately, no one inside was injured.

• Subsequent Shootings:
  [02:31]
  Over the next few months, three more shootings occur, all involving .45 caliber casings and sightings of a dark-colored SUV. Detective David Zoeski and Officer Stephen Cunningham lead the investigation, noting the pattern and potential escalation towards violence.

Detective Zoeski:
"Four shootings over a few months. Do they have anything in common?"
[02:31]

…

Detective Zoeski:
"The common denominator was the caliber of the gun that was used. .45 caliber casings were located at all four scenes, and a dark-colored SUV was reported in the last two incidents."
[02:31]

---

3. The Victim: Kevin Jeong’s Background

Kevin Jeong emerges as a beloved figure within his community, characterized by his academic dedication and personal warmth.

• Personal Life:
  [03:37]
  Kevin is portrayed as a deeply loving fiancé to Zion Perry, a PhD student at Yale. Their engagement, shared values, and mutual support highlight Kevin's positive influence on those around him.

Detective Zoeski:
"He was just a very happy person, very genuine soul."
[04:20]

• Community and Family:
  [14:06]
  Interviews with Kevin’s mother, Linda Lou, and pastor Gregory Hendrickson reveal his nurturing role in the family and his faith-based community involvement.

Pastor Gregory Hendrickson:
"He was very committed to seeing him come through a tough childhood where he was often bullied. Eventually, he thrived on the other side of that."
[14:34]

---

4. The Murder and Investigation Unfold

Kevin’s murder is meticulously examined through witness accounts and forensic evidence.

• Crime Scene Details:
  [04:20]
  Kevin is found lying on the street with multiple gunshot wounds. Forensic analysis reveals close-range gunfire evidenced by stippling on his head.

Detective Zoeski:
"Stippling is a burn pattern caused by gunpowder exploding from a weapon fired at close range."
[06:06]

• Witness Testimonies and Video Evidence:
  [06:31]
  Security footage and eyewitnesses describe a dark SUV approaching Kevin’s car, leading to the fatal shooting. The detailed surveillance footage becomes a pivotal piece of evidence.

Detective Zoeski:
"They hear a collision between the two cars, see Kevin’s Prius pull into frame, the SUV pulls up behind him, reverses out of frame, and then Kevin approaches the SUV."
[08:34]

---

5. Connecting the Dots: Identifying the Suspect

The investigation takes a critical turn with the identification of Kinshin Pan, an MIT graduate student with a clean background.

• Discovery of Kinshin Pan:
  [21:14]
  Police identify Kinshin Pan, whose vehicle matches the suspect SUV, and link him to prior shootings through ballistic evidence.

Detective Zoeski:
"The license plate imprint on Kevin's car matched the SUV Pan was driving when Kevin was rear-ended. Forensic tests revealed Pan's DNA on the gun and ammo found outside Arby's."
[30:40]

• Pan’s Movements and Evasion Tactics:
  [26:21]
  Pan’s attempts to mislead investigators by disabling GPS systems and making misleading test drive claims are highlighted, showcasing his calculated efforts to evade capture.

Detective Zoeski:
"He planned it and knew we’d be looking at these other things. He was targeting Kevin deliberately."
[31:34]

---

6. The Arrest and Evidence Against Pan

After an extensive manhunt spanning months, Pan is apprehended in Alabama with substantial evidence against him.

• Final Capture:
  [37:37]
  Using intelligence gathered from Pan’s parents and tracking his communications, US Marshals locate Pan, leading to his arrest.

Detective Zoeski:
"Pan was arrested for the murder of Kevin Zhang and brought back to Connecticut where he maintained his innocence, but a judge ordered him held on a $20 million bond."
[38:15]

• Evidence Compilation:
  [38:27]
  The accumulation of evidence, including DNA, blood traces, and ballistic matches, solidifies the case against Pan despite the murder weapon remaining undiscovered.

Detective Zoeski:
"Even without the murder weapon, the overwhelming evidence made it clear that Pan was responsible."
[39:05]

---

7. Trial and Conviction

Kinshin Pan’s trial culminates in a guilty plea, resulting in a significant prison sentence.

• Guilty Plea and Sentencing:
  [39:30]
  Pan pleads guilty to the murder in exchange for a 35-year prison sentence without parole.

Zion Perry:
"Charge Pan, please. 35 years in prison is too short and too light."
[40:30]

• Courtroom Reactions:
  [40:51]
  Both victims’ families and the prosecution express the profound impact of Pan’s actions, seeking justice and closure.

Zion Perry:
"May God have mercy on you. And may he have mercy on all of us."
[40:57]

---

8. Reflections and Aftermath

The episode concludes with reflections on the case’s resolution and its emotional toll on all parties involved.

• Community and Family Reflections:
  [42:12]
  The episode highlights the enduring grief of Kevin’s loved ones and the belief in Kevin’s capacity for forgiveness.

Detective Zoeski:
"Do you think Kevin would have forgiven Pan? Yes, I do."
[42:11]

• Final Thoughts from Investigators:
  [43:10]
  Detective Zoeski and Zion Perry emphasize the importance of perseverance and the pursuit of justice, despite the emotional challenges faced during the investigation.

---

Notable Quotes with Attributions and Timestamps

• Detective Zoeski:
  "Four shootings over a few months. Do they have anything in common?"
  [02:31]

• Pastor Gregory Hendrickson:
  "He was very committed to seeing him come through a tough childhood where he was often bullied. Eventually, he thrived on the other side of that."
  [14:34]

• Zion Perry:
  "Charge Pan, please. 35 years in prison is too short and too light."
  [40:30]

• Detective Zoeski:
  "Even without the murder weapon, the overwhelming evidence made it clear that Pan was responsible."
  [39:05]

• Detective Zoeski:
  "Do you think Kevin would have forgiven Pan? Yes, I do."
  [42:11]

---

Conclusion

"The Ivy League Murder" episode of 48 Hours intricately weaves the chronology of a tragic event, showcasing the meticulous investigation that brought a perpetrator to justice. Through detailed recounting, emotional testimonies, and key forensic breakthroughs, the episode not only highlights the procedural aspects of solving a complex murder but also the profound personal losses endured by the victim’s community.

For listeners seeking an in-depth understanding of the case, this episode serves as a compelling narrative of crime, investigation, and the relentless pursuit of justice.

---

Stay Tuned:
Join Anne-Marie Green every Monday for a new 48 Hours episode, delve deeper on Tuesdays with the "Post Mortem" series, and revisit classics every Thursday. For ad-free access, subscribe to 48 Hours+ on Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

[Kevin]

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[Zion]

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[Zion]

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[Kevin]

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[Zion]

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[Kevin]

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[Zion]

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[Kevin]

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[Detective Zoeski]

You start dealing with a series of shootings that's a little out of the ordinary. Take me through that.

[Kevin]

The first shooting occurs on December 11, 2020 at Huntington street in New Haven. There's a report of five gunshots in the area. The residents were struck multiple times. The house was occupied, but nobody was hit. When police responded, they located multiple.45 caliber cell casings at the scene. There's a second shooting that occurs January 15th, 2021. The third shooting occurred February 5th. A four occurred on February 6th. It's another residence. It was occupied but nobody was hurt inside. There were five rounds that were shot into was occupied. Fortunately nobody was hit. The residents were struck multiple times by gunfire. Nobody was injured. Patrol officers located one.45 caliber. Located multiple casings.45 caliber.45 caliber shell casings were located at the scene.

[Detective Zoeski]

Four shootings over a few months. Do they have anything in common?

[Kevin]

The common denominator was the caliber of the gun that was used.45 caliber casings that were located at all four of those scenes. And in the last two shootings there was a description of a dark colored SUV.

[Detective Zoeski]

Our officer is concerned that at some point someone is going to get hurt.

[Kevin]

Yes.

[Zion]

8:30 Saturday night, residents in the East.

[Kevin]

Rock neighborhood heard the distinct sound of gunfire. On February 6th at around 8:30pm we get the report of a person shot at Lawrence and Nicholl street in New Haven. That person was later identified as Kevin Zhang and was pronounced deceased. On the scene we located eight.45 caliber shell casings. There were a few 911 callers that saw a dark colored SUV flee the area. A sense of shock and sadness has.

[Zion]

Settled on the Yale University community after.

[Kevin]

The Saturday night shooting death of grad student Kevin Giang.

[Zion]

What's up, everyone? Welcome to another episode of Fitness with Kevin.

[Kevin]

I'm Kevin. It still doesn't feel real.

[Zion]

You know, like, it still doesn't feel real.

[Kevin]

He's such a cutie.

[Detective Zoeski]

He was just very happy person, very genuine soul.

[Zion]

The victim was a student at Yale's.

[Kevin]

School of the Environment.

[Zion]

Originally from Chicago. He was an army vet who posted.

[Kevin]

On Facebook just a week ago his.

[Zion]

Joy in getting engaged.

[Detective Zoeski]

He was so in love with Zion. He was just like, oh, Zion this and Zion that. Like, everything was about Zion. He really loved her. So you guys walk up to the scene. What do you see?

[Kevin]

Kevin's body. He was laying on his right side. His feet were on the stop line here and his head was towards the first line of the crosswalk. And then we see the casings. There's a shell casing by the bottom of the S and a few feet from the P. And then there were six more spread out by the first crosswalk line. We could see gunshot wounds to his upper body and to his head. There were some shots that were at close range.

[Detective Zoeski]

There was something personal about this.

[Kevin]

Yes. We'll use Facebook as a tool to try and get a little background on an individual who they're friends with.

[Detective Zoeski]

And so you're going down the list of names. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

[Kevin]

And then you're like, whoa, there's our connection. Ann Marie Green reports the Ivy League murder.

[Detective Zoeski]

It was a cold night in February 2021 when lead detective David Zoeski and his colleague Stephen Cunningham arrived at the crime scene.

[Kevin]

The patrol officers had already been out there canvassing the area. They were knocking on doors, looking for anyone that might have seen anything or heard anything. The crime scene detectives were starting to locate all the shell casings.

[Detective Zoeski]

26 year old Yale graduate student Kevin Jeong was lying in the street, shot eight times.

[Kevin]

His body was still on scene covered in a white sheet.

[Detective Zoeski]

When you saw the body, what did you see?

[Kevin]

What we could see were contract wounds to his upper body and to his head. And you could see stippling on the left side of his head.

[Detective Zoeski]

Stippling is a burn pattern caused by gunpowder exploding from a weapon fired at close range. About 100ft down the street, there was.

[Kevin]

A Prius just parked in the middle of the road with his hazards on.

[Detective Zoeski]

They quickly discovered the Prius belonged to Kevin. Crime scene detectives noticed a peculiar bit of damage that Suggested it had been hit from behind.

[Kevin]

There was an impression that was left on the back bumper that looked like a license plate holder.

[Detective Zoeski]

So this is like a fender bender? It's not a violent crash?

[Kevin]

No. There's not much damage.

[Detective Zoeski]

One witness told detectives she heard the sound of an accident and went to the window to look.

[Kevin]

When they look out, they see a Prius come to a stop and put his hazards on. They see a dark colored SUV pull up behind it and then reverse back towards the intersection. They see the operator of the Prius walk out and approach the suv, most likely to see how they were exchange insurance information. When the operator gets to the black suv, they hear a round of gunshots and they see the muzzle flash from the gun from the driver's side of the suv.

[Detective Zoeski]

Another witness heard the first round of gunshots and went to her window.

[Kevin]

When she looks outside, she sees a subject wearing all black standing over another individual who's laying on the ground. She hears another round of gunshots and she can see the muzzle flash from the gun as he's firing.

[Detective Zoeski]

She sees someone standing over another person, which means the victim is already down and they're still shooting.

[Kevin]

Yes.

[Detective Zoeski]

What did you think?

[Kevin]

There's a little bit more to it. It seems a little bit more personal when you have someone that's laying on the ground and not moving. What would cause someone to continue firing at them?

[Detective Zoeski]

The detectives were able to confirm these accounts when they got a look at video from a neighbor's security system.

[Kevin]

It was located on the inside of a window facing outward.

[Detective Zoeski]

Because most of the frame is a reflection of the interior of the house, We've zoomed in to focus on what's happening on the street. A warning. This may be difficult to listen to.

[Kevin]

We hear the collision between the two cars, and then that's when you see Kevin's Prius pull into frame and the SUV pulls up behind him and then reverses out of frame. You see Kevin exit his vehicle and then walk out of frame to approach the suv. You then hear two gunshots, a scream, and then six more gunshots.

[Detective Zoeski]

Moments later. The video shows the SUV driving off into the night. Can you make out any details when it comes to the suv?

[Kevin]

Unfortunately not. You could kind of get the idea of the potential make and model of it with the tail lights, but you couldn't discern any identifying features.

[Detective Zoeski]

Investigators soon felt the dark SUV and the.45 caliber shells recovered at the scene pointed to a potential link to those earlier shootings around the area that police had been investigating four times over. A two month span, someone fired shots into family homes. The fourth incident occurred just one hour before Kevin Jeong's murder.

[Kevin]

We had detectives in the bureau looking into each of the incidents to see if there's any more of a connection to link them.

[Zion]

Two bullets came in through this window and ended up in this wall.

[Detective Zoeski]

Paul and Nari White's home was the target of the third shooting.

[Zion]

We had just finished dinner.

[Detective Zoeski]

I had a fire going nyree a schoolteacher headed upstairs to take a shower. Paul, an educator with degrees from Yale, Harvard and Columbia University, was sitting downstairs.

[Zion]

All of a sudden, something comes through this window. Then a second bullet came through. You heard the pop and the glass going everywhere with that one.

[Detective Zoeski]

Paul shouted a warning to Nyreen, get down.

[Zion]

Someone's shooting.

[Detective Zoeski]

And then I heard bang, pop again. And I turn and I literally saw the frame of the door just splintered. And then she yells back at you.

[Zion]

Right, that someone's shooting upstairs.

[Detective Zoeski]

It was over in a matter of moments and no one was injured. Do you feel lucky?

[Zion]

Yes.

[Detective Zoeski]

Absolutely.

[Zion]

Absolutely.

[Detective Zoeski]

Absolutely. Detectives interviewed the Whites and the occupants of the other houses.

[Kevin]

There didn't seem to be any connection between them.

[Detective Zoeski]

And none of them, investigators say, had any connection to Kevin Zhang. But the shell casings from all the shootings would later tell a different story.

[Kevin]

When the casings are sent to the lab, they all came back as matches to the casings found at the homicide.

[Detective Zoeski]

The casings matched, but Kevin was the only person murdered, and detectives didn't know why.

[Kevin]

It could have been a road rage incident that turned a little too violent.

[Detective Zoeski]

Or was Kevin Jeong targeted?

[Kevin]

The car accident was deliberate to get.

[Zion]

Him out of the vehicle. Possibly seemed like it was planned.

[Kevin]

And if he was specifically targeted, what could have happened in his life to drive someone to do this?

[Detective Zoeski]

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[Zion]

Everyone who comes into this clinic is a mystery.

[Detective Zoeski]

We don't know what we're looking for.

[Zion]

Their bodies are the scene of the crime.

[Detective Zoeski]

The symptoms and history are clues.

[Zion]

You saved her life. We're doctors and we're detectives.

[Kevin]

I kind of love it, if I'm being honest.

[Zion]

Solve the puzzle, save the patient.

[Detective Zoeski]

Morris Chestnut is Watson. Now streaming on Paramount plus and new episodes return Sunday, February 16th on CBS. Now streaming.

[Kevin]

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[Detective Zoeski]

We're gonna need every one of them in section 31.

[Kevin]

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[Zion]

Section 31 is just a place for.

[Detective Zoeski]

People to bend their rules.

[Zion]

Starfleet is here to make sure no one commits murder.

[Kevin]

What a cute idea. This is chaos.

[Zion]

Let's get messy.

[Kevin]

Don't miss Star Trek section 31.

[Detective Zoeski]

Now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus. It was late when detectives Zoeski and Cunningham left the crime scene on February 6. They went to Kevin Jeong's home, looking to find a family member to notify about what had happened. His mother, Linda Lou, came to the door. It's got to be the hardest conversation.

[Kevin]

It is. They always are.

[Zion]

Hi, Mom.

[Kevin]

Happy birthday. You want to be direct and upfront and make it clear, as horrific as it is for them. So we explained to her that he was shot and killed in the area of Lawrence and Nicholl street in New Haven.

[Detective Zoeski]

Can she even comprehend that?

[Kevin]

She's absolutely devastated. She falls to the ground crying.

[Detective Zoeski]

The detectives wanted to know everything about Kevin and why he may have been targeted. That night, Linda began to tell them about her son.

[Kevin]

It was just the two of them, and he was actually supporting her. She told us that he was a grad student at Yale University and was in the Army National Guard.

[Detective Zoeski]

Kevin was deeply religious. He and his mother were part of the congregation at Trinity Baptist Church. Pastor Gregory Hendrickson knew them both and says that Linda, a divorced single parent, got Kevin through a tough childhood where he was often bullied.

[Kevin]

She was very committed to sort of seeing him come through, and eventually he thrived on the other side of that. I think he had a sense of.

[Detective Zoeski]

Honoring his mom by as she had cared for him when he was a.

[Kevin]

Child, caring for her as she was getting older.

[Detective Zoeski]

Kevin bought this house in 2019, and Hendrickson says he invited his mother to come live with him.

[Kevin]

She was living alone. She was living on the other side of the country. She didn't have a lot of family support around her, and he wanted her to come and be with him.

[Detective Zoeski]

During his studies at Yale, police also learned that Kevin had recently gotten engaged to his girlfriend of a year, Zion Perry. She posted the proposal on Facebook. This was just one week before he. He was murdered. He was so in love with Zion. You could tell he didn't even have to really say too much. Najah Hubbard, who served with Kevin in the Army National Guard. Oh, my gosh. So I remember one time he was on the phone with her and I was like, wow. Like, you could hear the genuineness and his love towards her. And I was like, wow, I hope I find someone like that. Zion Perry grew up in Pennsylvania, where she was an honors high school student. The couple met In January of 2020, when Zion was still an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, mit.

[Kevin]

He said, you know, I met her.

[Zion]

At a Christian retreat.

[Kevin]

And she's very kind, and we enjoy talking and just have great conversations together. Then she came to do her PhD at Yale. They clearly shared a lot in common. They both loved nature.

[Zion]

I mean, Zion's a scientist.

[Kevin]

He was studying molecular biophysics and biochemistry. So, you know, he was studying in the school of the environment. They're both brilliant and hardworking students, and yet they didn't feel like their accomplishments were what defined them at the deepest level.

[Detective Zoeski]

Zulecki and Cunningham then interviewed an emotional Zion. She told them she and Kevin had spent the day together.

[Kevin]

They had gone ice fishing and had dinner at her house. And then he left her house around 8:30 that night.

[Detective Zoeski]

Kevin didn't get far. His Prius was struck by the dark SUV just two blocks from Zion's house, close enough for Zion to hear the gunshots that followed.

[Kevin]

She remembers hearing the gunshots, but she thought there was a good five or ten minutes after he'd left to when she heard the gunshots. So she didn't think he was anywhere near the area and didn't think twice about him potentially being involved in any way.

[Detective Zoeski]

Did she have any idea who would have done something like this at that point?

[Zion]

I don't know. Nothing that she told us that she. She could think of.

[Detective Zoeski]

After speaking with Zion detectives were no closer to figuring out why Kevin would be a target.

[Zion]

Seemed like just an innocent, innocent guy.

[Detective Zoeski]

Did you think this was gonna be a tough case, though, that night?

[Kevin]

Yes, we had a little bit, but there wasn't a lot to go on.

[Zion]

I just had somebody drive through my yard here. How you doing?

[Detective Zoeski]

But just 15 hours after the shooting.

[Zion]

What are you doing back here?

[Detective Zoeski]

They got a huge break.

[Kevin]

Little did we know that we'd get the phone call the next day.

[Zion]

I just got in here, actually, accidentally.

[Kevin]

And I got stuck, and it was like, okay. Wow.

[Detective Zoeski]

News of Kevin's murder spread among his loved ones and closest friends. I was at home, and I actually got a phone call from another soldier. And she was saying, I know you guys were close. And her voice cracked. And she told me that he had passed away. And I was, like, not comprehending what was going on. So I text him, and I was like, answer your phone, please. And obviously, he never answered me. Lt. Hubbard reached out to Captain Jamila Aye. And if sharing the news about Kevin wasn't tragic enough, someone posted the chilling video of his murder online. And his fellow soldiers now saw and heard Kevin's final moments alive. To this day, I can still hear him. Yeah, yeah, him screaming. I was like, why did I listen to that? Detectives Zoezki and Cunningham were back at their desks in headquarters, struggling for answers and leads to pursue. Day two. You get a phone call?

[Kevin]

Yes.

[Detective Zoeski]

The call from a sergeant at nearby North Haven Police department was urgent.

[Kevin]

Two incidents that happened in North Haven the night before, and then earlier that morning.

[Detective Zoeski]

It began with a 911 call from a local scrap metal yard around 9pm, less than a half hour after Kevin was killed. I'm the security guard at Sims Metal Management.

[Zion]

I just had somebody drive through my yard here. They didn't know where they were going, so I had them chasing them around.

[Detective Zoeski]

The yard and they just pulled way.

[Zion]

In the back off the property. Like a black minivan, SUV type of thing.

[Detective Zoeski]

Police body cameras were rolling when Sgt. Jeffrey Mills and Officer Marcus Artize spotted that vehicle stuck on snow covered railroad tracks not far from the rear exit of the Sims Scrap Metal yard. They approached the driver.

[Zion]

What are you doing back here though? I just got it here accidentally and I got stuck.

[Kevin]

Is there any way to get us stuck here?

[Zion]

The only thing I can do is call your tow truck. Okay, cool. Thanks.

[Detective Zoeski]

The motorist was 29 year old Kinshin Pan from Malden, Massachusetts.

[Zion]

Okay. Do you have your driver's license on you? Yes. Registration?

[Detective Zoeski]

His driver's license and criminal background were clean. During the encounter, Sgt. Mills noticed a yellow jacket on the passenger seat. He also saw a blue bag and a briefcase in the backseat, but not much else.

[Zion]

He took a wrong turn, he got lost and he thought the jeep was probably chasing him. The security guy.

[Detective Zoeski]

Because Sergeant Mills hadn't heard about Kevin's murder, he wasn't particularly concerned. So it's nothing you think?

[Zion]

Yeah, he's. He doesn't look like he's trying to scrap anything. I mean, no. I've been on the tracks I don't know how many times with vehicles that were, you know, called in a suspicious or whatever, but kids go back there. People always come down there, according to the security guard, and they turn around in the front lot and they leave because they missed the highway or something.

[Detective Zoeski]

Did he look nervous?

[Zion]

He wasn't nervous at all. He was perfectly calm.

[Kevin]

So what do you recommend I do? I mean, if I can get it off the track, I prefer to drive it myself.

[Zion]

It was just like, oh, sorry, I got stuck on the tracks. Can you help me get off?

[Detective Zoeski]

So how about you get a hotel for the night?

[Zion]

We'll have the tow truck drop you off the hotel, you pay for a credit card and you can arrange picking up the car.

[Detective Zoeski]

In the morning.

[Zion]

Okay, let's get the hotel then. Yeah, let's do that. If it is difficult, that's probably the safest thing to do.

[Kevin]

Okay.

[Zion]

Okay. The tow truck came. It took a little work, but it got it off the tracks. He gave Mr. Pan a ride back to Westwestern. And I cleared the call like any other call.

[Detective Zoeski]

But hours later, there was another call to 911.

[Zion]

February 7th, around 11am Hello?

[Detective Zoeski]

Can I help you?

[Zion]

This is the police department. Hello.

[Detective Zoeski]

I work at Arby here in North Haven. We found a gun and probably like 10 boxes of bullets.

[Zion]

An employee found a couple of bags on the grass at the north entrance here. When they brought them in, there were three bags. This one, that one, and this got. Took a better look at the bags that it came in, and here's a blue retail bag with the Massachusetts logo on it and a small leather black briefcase. And it instantly hit me. These are the bags that were in Mr. Pond's car the night before.

[Detective Zoeski]

The Arby's was right next door to the Best Western where Penn was dropped off. And by then, Mills had heard about the murder in New Haven. What's going through your brain at that.

[Zion]

Point, knowing that New Haven had a homicide? They were looking for a dark colored GMC suv. Now we've got a firearm. And then Officer Bianchi shows me a yellow jacket that was in it. And the suspect was wearing a yellow jacket jacket. And when we got here, I went in to the front desk and spoke with the attendant there and asked if bucks on Pan had checked in, which they checked it and said, yes, he did. I mean, he hasn't checked out yet.

[Detective Zoeski]

That's when Mills alerted New Haven Homicide about Pan. Do you immediately think there might be a connection with the homicide?

[Kevin]

There's a very good chance the vehicle matched. And the items that were left behind at the Arby's restaurant, it included a.45 caliber handgun. And that matched the casings that were up the scene.

[Detective Zoeski]

Zulewski immediately sent detectives to meet Mills at the Best Western.

[Zion]

So we got a key, went to room 276. We knocked on the door, we entered the room. The room was clean, nothing in it. It didn't appear that anybody stayed in for the night. That first room, we're like, oh, we lost them.

[Detective Zoeski]

New Haven police sent investigators, including Detective Joe Galvin, to track down Pan. Galvin went to Malden, Massachusetts, where Pan lived with his parents and was a graduate student at mit right outside of Boston.

[Zion]

Very affluent homes. There was no one there when we knocked on the door. So the day after the homicide, we were unsure if maybe the family was on vacation out of state, out of the country.

[Detective Zoeski]

But police were also worried.

[Zion]

Were they given the heinous act that occurred in New Haven the day before? Were they potentially kidnapped by their own son? Were they victims of another horrible crime?

[Detective Zoeski]

With Kenshin Pan and his parents missing from their home, Detective David Zawski turned to his computer, searching for Pan.

[Kevin]

The first thing I want to know is who he is and if there's any connection between him and Kevin. I see that he has a Facebook page.

[Detective Zoeski]

What was his page like?

[Kevin]

There was not much activity at all. His last post was back in 2016, and he had a few photos with some other students, but that was it.

[Detective Zoeski]

Is that when you first found out that he's an MIT grad student?

[Kevin]

Yes. That was the first time we got the connection between him and mit. So I check his friends list to see if Kevin is in there.

[Detective Zoeski]

Is he?

[Kevin]

Kevin is not listed, but I do notice that Zion Perry is listed.

[Detective Zoeski]

Zion Perry, Kevin's fiance, who also went to mit.

[Kevin]

Now we have a connection. I got in contact with her. She explained that they had met at MIT back in 2019, and they. They were more associates than friends.

[Detective Zoeski]

Nothing romantic?

[Kevin]

No. She said that they never dated. They never had any romantic relationship. The last time she spoke with him was May of 2020. He reached out to her through Facebook messenger to congratulate her on graduating. He asked to FaceTime with her, and she politely declined it.

[Detective Zoeski]

She must have been wondering, why are you asking me so many questions about this guy? What'd you say to her?

[Kevin]

She was. And that's when I told her that he was a person of interest in this. And she was completely shocked. He was barely a part of her life, and why he would have been involved with this in any way.

[Detective Zoeski]

What did she have posted on her page?

[Kevin]

The last things that she had posted were the engagement between her and Kevin.

[Zion]

This is so pretty.

[Detective Zoeski]

Wow.

[Kevin]

Wow.

[Detective Zoeski]

Are you starting to formulate a theory about the case that goes a little beyond possible road rage?

[Kevin]

Yes. It did seem like there was a secret obsession of Pans going on behind the scenes that Kevin wasn't aware of and that Zion wasn't aware of.

[Detective Zoeski]

The next day, Zion Perry joined Kevin's mother, Linda Liu, and father, Ming Shenzhong, and nearly 700 people on a virtual vigil for Kevin. Zion addressed the mourners. One day I will get to see Kevin again.

[Zion]

Yet in heaven. And when everything is made right.

[Detective Zoeski]

I thank Ms. Lynn and Mr. Jiang.

[Zion]

For raising such a fine young man, and for bringing him into the world. He gave me a lot of joy. He's very thoughtful, warmer boy, taking care of me. And I miss him. He's a nice boy. Everybody likes you.

[Kevin]

Thank you.

[Zion]

Thank you, you.

[Detective Zoeski]

All that week, Pastor Hendrickson eulogized Kevin at his funeral.

[Kevin]

We come to you today remembering Kevin.

[Detective Zoeski]

Grateful for his life, grieving over his loss. Zion read a poem Kevin wrote to her. It began with, if this world falls apart, it will be all right because.

[Kevin]

We have each other's hearts.

[Detective Zoeski]

A medical officer also trained to operate tanks, Kevin was buried with full military honors just two days before his 27th birthday on Valentine's Day. Meanwhile, Detective Galvin, a member of the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Connecticut, along with Supervisor Matthew Duffy and Deputy Marshal Kevin Perot, for utilizing their vast resources to urgently gather intelligence on Pan.

[Zion]

MIT graduate, not socially active. Degree in computer science. Grad student in artificial intelligence.

[Detective Zoeski]

Lawyer William Geraint.

[Zion]

Very smart.

[Detective Zoeski]

Genius.

[Zion]

Genius. Socially not a genius.

[Detective Zoeski]

The Marshalls discovered Pan had three active phones. And they noticed that in the months before Kevin was killed, Pan was using one of those phones to contact car dealerships.

[Zion]

He would tell them all the same thing. Said he's going for a test drive. I believe he said he's going on a camping trip.

[Detective Zoeski]

Investigators were able to match the date of Pan's test drives with each of the.45 caliber shootings in New Haven, including Kevin's murder. It was all part of a plan. Investigators say they believe that Pan likely fired shots into those homes to ultimately mislead them, hoping they would think Kevin's murder was just another random shooting.

[Kevin]

He planned it.

[Zion]

And he knew we'd be looking at these other things.

[Kevin]

Yeah, he did his best to mislead us, and now we knew that, yes, this wasn't a random incident out there, that he was targeted.

[Detective Zoeski]

They also discovered that not long after Kevin's murder, Pan called his parents and they made a cash withdrawal of about $1,000.

[Zion]

They had tremendous assets somehow, from Shanghai. Access to large sums of money. Several million dollars.

[Detective Zoeski]

The Marshals zeroed in on Pan's parents and picked up a ping on their phone at this North Carolina gas station.

[Zion]

Our task force found it on the ground.

[Detective Zoeski]

The cell phone was crushed like a.

[Zion]

Car ran over it.

[Detective Zoeski]

Three days later, investigators caught up with Pan's parents driving near Atlanta, Georgia.

[Zion]

Georgia State Police pulled him over.

[Detective Zoeski]

He's not in the vehicle?

[Zion]

Nope.

[Detective Zoeski]

Police told them they suspected their son had killed someone. Were they shocked?

[Zion]

No.

[Detective Zoeski]

They weren't shocked that their Son was being investigated and connected with a cold blooded murder.

[Zion]

They may have been, but they didn't. They didn't lead on to us at all. They didn't lead on to us at all. The fathers that our son called said he was in Connecticut and needed help. He asked us to bring cash. Then once we picked him up in Connecticut, he took the wheel. And then they take this very long drive down south.

[Detective Zoeski]

Van's father didn't say why his son was heading in that direction.

[Zion]

And he says he's quiet, acting weird. Doesn't really say what's going on. They make it down to Georgia, he pulls over and he gets out of the car and walks away. He said no words to them, just walked away from the car. That was their story.

[Detective Zoeski]

Pan's parents agreed to be photographed. Pan's mother declined to answer any questions without an attorney. But she later volunteered that her son walked away from her and his father and likely killed himself. The marshals were skeptical.

[Zion]

We knew after talking to the parents that they would go to jail for him. Knowing the degree that the parents were helping him and his resources, his intelligence, we had to take a different approach on it. We needed to focus in on the parents because they probably would lead us to him. They would go to the ends of the earth to help support and hide him.

[Detective Zoeski]

And what does that mean?

[Zion]

Patience.

[Detective Zoeski]

And they would need plenty of it. Weeks went by without an arrest. They wondered if they missed something and if their murder suspect had outmaneuvered them. What do you think of Pan's plan to mislead investigators? See more of the evidence at 48.

[Kevin]

Hours com.

[Detective Zoeski]

Five weeks pass without a solid lead on the MIT student wanted for Kevin Zhang's murder. US Marshals are leading a nationwide manhunt this morning for the man charged in the murder of a Yale grad student. You give me a real sense of the pressure.

[Zion]

Yeah. Because this became so high profile so fast, it was. It was just heightened.

[Detective Zoeski]

Then the manhunt for Pan suddenly heated up. Police said his mom told them she suspected her son killed himself. But they noticed his parents had a lot of banking activity.

[Zion]

We start to see large sums of cash being withdrawn. How much at that time was about 5,000, 10,000. That's a large sum of money that someone could use to get out of the country. They still have family in China.

[Detective Zoeski]

And then Pan's parents rented a car.

[Zion]

They start traveling south again.

[Detective Zoeski]

But the vehicle's GPS system the marshals were tracking went dark. Did they turn it off? It was disabled by then. Investigators said they Knew that their son had disabled GPS systems in several cars he drove in the run up to Kevin's murder.

[Zion]

Counter tactics. Counter tactics.

[Detective Zoeski]

At one point, surveillance cameras at this Georgia mall recorded Pan's father purchasing a computer.

[Zion]

Now, this is during COVID so everybody has their masks on. We see the father walk in, and probably about 10 minutes later, we see an individual fitting the description of the son. So the story of the suicide out in the woods, that's. That's not true. So from there, the parents end up traveling back north. Once they're in Connecticut, the GPS comes back on. We felt. We felt the clock was really ticking.

[Detective Zoeski]

And it ticked away for nearly two more months until May 4, 2021, when Pan's parents drove off for a third time. But there was a difference.

[Zion]

They were traveling with another couple.

[Detective Zoeski]

What do you think the deal was with the other couple?

[Zion]

Make it appear that it's a regular trip. No big deal. We're just going on a trip to meet some friends. We're not here to help our son.

[Detective Zoeski]

Pan's parents and their unwitting companions were eventually placed under surveillance at a North Carolina hotel, where marshals interviewed a clerk after the Pan's checked out.

[Zion]

At one point, Kin Chin Pan's mother came to the clerk's desk late at night and asked to borrow his phone.

[Detective Zoeski]

Here is the picture of Pan's mother making the call that broke the case wide open.

[Zion]

After she used his phone, she deleted the number from his phone.

[Detective Zoeski]

Were you able to find that number?

[Zion]

Yes.

[Detective Zoeski]

The marshals tracked the phone to this boarding house near Alabama State University in Montgomery. So you guys are closing in?

[Zion]

Yeah. They went out there with a small army, around 20 guys. They ended up finding his room, and they knocked on it, and he just came out and said, I'm who you're looking for. He had approximately $20,000 cash on him. He had his father's passport. Father's passport. And he had multiple communication devices on him. So seven sim cards. Seven sim cards and a computer.

[Detective Zoeski]

Penn was arrested for the murder of Kevin Zhang and brought back to Connecticut. He maintained his innocence, but a judge ordered him held on a $20 million bond.

[Zion]

Huge relief.

[Detective Zoeski]

His case was delayed by the pandemic, but investigators had amassed a trove of evidence. Remember that license plate imprint on Kevin's car? Police say it matched the plate on the bumper of the SUV Pan was driving when Kevin was rear ended. And forensic tests revealed that Pan's DNA was on the gun and ammo found outside Arby's. And Kevin's blood was Also on Pan's hat and the gear shift of the SUV Pan was driving the night Kevin was was murdered. Was there anything missing?

[Zion]

The murder weapon.

[Detective Zoeski]

Turns out the gun recovered at the Arby's was not the gun that was used to kill Kevin. Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Stacey Miranda.

[Zion]

Who knows where that murder weapon ended up.

[Detective Zoeski]

But there was so much other evidence that Pan's lawyer, William Gerais, recommended he cut a deal.

[Zion]

Overwhelming evidence. Overwhelming evidence.

[Detective Zoeski]

On February 29, 2024, three years after Kevin's killing, Pan pled guilty to his murder in Exchange for serving 35 years in prison without parole.

[Zion]

And had he not been stuck on the railroad tracks, this still might not be a solved case. We might not know who did this. Bring out Pan, please.

[Detective Zoeski]

At his sentencing in April, Pan sat silently as Kevin's loved ones and friends described their loss. By court order, the camera was fixed on him. Some of Kevin's mother's remarks were read by a family friend. I was dreaming that Kevin would have a few beautiful children after getting married. This beautiful and joyful dream is. Is destroyed. I am left alone by myself. I will never see Kevin smile again. Then Kevin's mother decided to speak to.

[Zion]

Charge the Mother of Pen. 35 years in prison is too short and too light.

[Detective Zoeski]

Pan never explained why he killed Kevin. But the only time he looked up up was when Zion Perry rose to speak.

[Zion]

I wanted to address Pan specifically.

[Detective Zoeski]

Although your sentence is far less than you deserve, there is also mercy.

[Zion]

May God have mercy on you. And may he have mercy on all of us.

[Detective Zoeski]

Then Pan briefly addressed the court.

[Zion]

Your honor, about is my action and the horrible consequences. I feel sorry for what my actions.

[Kevin]

Caused and for everyone affected. I fully accept my penalties.

[Zion]

The court is going to impose the.

[Kevin]

Agreed upon sentence of 35 years.

[Detective Zoeski]

Finally, Judge Harmon passed sentence and Pan was led away in handcuffs. Did you ever consider charging his parents?

[Zion]

We couldn't charge him because we couldn't prove that they knew when they picked him up that he was.

[Kevin]

Had committed a murder.

[Detective Zoeski]

So they might be lucky that they didn't find themselves charged as well.

[Zion]

100%.

[Detective Zoeski]

We reached out to Pan's parents for comment, but did not hear back. Now Kevin's friends are left to wonder what Kevin, a man of deep faith, might have thought about his killer. Do you think Kevin would have forgiven Pan? Yes, I do.

[Kevin]

Without a doubt.

[Detective Zoeski]

Yeah. The officers visited Kevin's grave after they spoke to 48 hours. Lt. Hubbard recalled her first time there when she says she felt Kevin's presence and did some. Something happened. It's just like wind blew, you know? Did you feel like it was him? I felt like it was definitely different as it's like a piece, kind of like. I want you to carry on. Don't be sad that I'm gone. Just keep going.

[Zion]

Ken Shin Pan is scheduled to be.

[Detective Zoeski]

Released in 2056 when he is 65 years old. Join me Tuesday for postmortem from 48 hours, where we'll dive even deeper into today's episode and answer your questions about the case.