Ho “Alex” Shin, 43, is back in Queens after more than two decades on the run, extradited from South Korea to finally face charges in a 2002 fatal stabbing in Flushing. Authorities say he was arrested overseas in December 2025 and brought to New York this week, where he was arraigned yesterday in Queens Supreme Court in the long-unsolved case.
Charges and arraignment
According to a press release from the Queens District Attorney’s Office, Shin was arraigned yesterday, Feb. 13, on an indictment charging two counts of murder in the second degree, second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Supreme Court Justice Jessica Earle-Gargan ordered Shin held without bail and directed him to return to court on Feb. 17. Prosecutors say the top count carries a potential sentence of 50 years to life. DA Melinda Katz said, “No matter how much time passes, we do not give up on our victims and their families.”
The 2002 attack in Flushing
Police records state that the violence erupted in the early morning hours of Jan. 6, 2002, when two males entered a first-floor apartment in the Murray Hill section of Flushing and began stabbing the occupants after what prosecutors describe as a perceived instance of disrespect. Dae Hyun Kim, 22, was rushed to the hospital and later pronounced dead, and another man who was assaulted in the same incident survived. Local reporting from the time placed the scene at a first-floor unit at 35-15 153rd St. in Flushing. QNS reported that a teenage suspect was arrested in the immediate aftermath of the killing.
Arrest abroad and extradition
Prosecutors say Shin fled the city after the slaying and stayed overseas until last winter. He was arrested in South Korea on Dec. 8, 2025, then escorted back to New York by the U.S. Marshals Service after what officials describe as coordinated work by the Queens DA’s Extraditions Unit, the NYPD Cold Case Squad, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and South Korean authorities, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
What comes next
The Homicide Bureau is set to prosecute the case, and the DA’s office says Assistant District Attorney Gabriel J. Reale is handling the matter. Shin remains remanded pending his next court appearance on Feb. 17. Local outlets reported on the extradition and arraignment yesterday as prosecutors move to formally press the long-delayed case in Queens courts, Patch noted.
Why the case matters now
The arrest marks a break in a decades-old Flushing homicide, closing a gap that had lingered since 2002. Prosecutors have pointed to the case as the product of persistent cold-case work and international cooperation. Coverage of the development by several outlets has highlighted how extradition and cross-border law enforcement partnerships can revive stalled investigations even many years later, as seen in reporting by the New York Post.
