Female Enforcer on Trial for Killing Actress Juliana Redding

Kelly Soo Park was allegedly a debt collector for a wealthy businessman.

ByABC News
October 17, 2012, 9:46 AM

Oct. 17, 2012 -- Prosecutors in Los Angeles claim that a woman accused of strangling an aspiring young actress was actually an enforcer hired by a wealthy doctor to strong-arm anyone who crossed him.

New court documents in the 2008 murder of 21-year-old actress Juliana Redding say that the woman arrested for her murder, Kelly Soo Park, was hired by Lebanese doctor and businessman Munir Uwaydah to use "threats, intimidation and bullying" to protect his business interests.

Park, 46, worked as Uwaydah's real estate broker and financial assistant, but was also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to act as Uwaydah's "debt collector," according to prosecutors. The doctor referred to Park as "James Bond," the court papers state.

READ MORE: Aspiring Actress Dead in SoCal Murder Mystery

"Most people see the role of enforcer as a shady guy in a black trench coat, but she walks in and catches people by surprise," ABC News' legal analyst Sunny Hostin said of Park.

Park, who will appear in a California courtroom today for a pretrial motion, was arrested two years ago for Redding's murder, who was found dead by authorities in her Santa Monica apartment on March 16, 2008.

The newly-released court documents say Park "used her bare hands" to "strangle" the actress. The documents contend that Park's "presence at the murder scene is supported by forensic evidence" found at Redding's neck, on her cell phone and on a knob on the stove in her apartment.

Park has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

A California man, Ronnie Wayne Case, 36, was arrested along with Park in 2010 and also charged with murder with special circumstances and conspiracy. He was later released without any charges in the murder.

In a court motion filed Sept. 24, prosecutors allege Park "has committed other distinctive acts of misconduct against similar victims under similar circumstances which exhibit common features of threats, intimidation and bullying for the purpose of assisting Dr. Uwaydah's business interests."

Prosecutors say those alleged incidents did not result in murder or assault but indicate a pattern of behavior for Park, something her attorney denies.

"The DA's description of the two incidents is factually inaccurate. Moreover, the two incidents are not similar in any significant way to anything that happened in the case before the court, and we will oppose the DA's motion to admit evidence of the incidents at the trial," Park's attorney, George W. Buehler, said in a statement to ABC News.

The new court documents say Park was "dispatched" by Uwaydah to "confront and intimidate" Redding on March 15, 2008, the date police say Redding was murdered.

Redding had moved from Arizona to California to pursue an acting career, and the court documents state that Redding had a brief romantic relationship with Uwaydah in 2007 that ended when her father, Greg Redding, learned Uwaydah was married with children.

Redding had introduced Uwaydah to her father, a pharmacist, during their romance and Uwaydah pursued him for a business deal to develop pain creams, prosecutors state.

Greg Redding sent a letter to Uwaydah backing out of the pair's business deal on March 10, 2008, five days before his daughter was murdered, prosecutors say. Redding, according to prosecutors, was concerned Uwaydah's business was not operating legally.