Suspects held for trial in Chae murder

Three Philadelphia men were bound over for trial today in the robbery and killing of businessman Robert Chae during a botched home invasion Jan. 9 in Montgomery Township.

Magisterial District Judge David A. Keightly ruled in a preliminary hearing that Joseph Page, Karre Pitts and Amatadi Latham will be tried on one count each of murder and four counts each of robbery.

Two other men, Julius Wise and Robert Eatman, waived their rights to a preliminary hearing.

Angelo Shin, 25, of North Wales, Chae's nephew by marriage, waived his preliminary hearing Feb. 13. Shin, who was taken in by Chae after immigrating from Korea, led the others to the Chae home, saying there was a safe containing cash and other valuables that could be stolen, police said.

Keightly's ruling came after a three-hour hearing in which Richard Chae, 29, the victim's son, testified. He said he was awakened early on Jan. 9, and was pistol-whipped by one of two men who had come to his bedroom.

He accompanied the men to the basement, where he saw his mother and sister bound with duct tape. The men hounded the family about the location of the safe, Chae testified, and two of the three went to ransack the house.

When they returned, they continued the harassment, he said.

"It seemed to me they weren't satisfied, and that they thought we had more," Chae said.

Robert Chae, 58, was killed during a morning home-invasion robbery Jan. 9 in which thieves got away with about $20,000 in cash, jewelry, and a bank passbook.

Robert Chae owned a beauty-supply store in Center City, and was a prominent member of the Korean community. He was beaten and bound with duct tape after he struggled with the home invaders, and he suffocated, court records show.

His wife and children were restrained but otherwise unharmed. One got away and ran to a neighbor's house to summon help, court records said.

In an unusual move, the preliminary hearing for the five defendants was shifted from District Court to larger quarters in the Montgomery Township Administration Building. That was because there were "so many defendants," the District Attorney's office said.

Shin, the nephew, confessed to police and provided information about the other alleged participants. In return, he was charged with third-degree murder, while the five others were charged with second-degree murder, police said.