ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190037
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TACOMA, WASH.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Evan Hunziker, a maverick missionary freed by North Korea just before Thanksgiving after being held three months on spy charges, was found dead Wednesday, an apparent suicide. He was 26.
The body of Hunziker, whose release was negotiated by Rep. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., was found about 6:30 a.m. in the restaurant-bar area of the Olympus Hotel, where he had been staying, police spokesman Jim Mattheis said. Hunziker had been shot once with a .357-caliber Magnum. No note was found, Mattheis said.
City officials had been trying to shut down the downtown hotel, which is owned by Hunziker's relatives, for safety and health reasons, Mattheis said.
Hunziker was arrested in late August in North Korea when he illegally entered the communist country from China. North Korea accused him of spying for capitalist rival South Korea.
His relatives, however, maintained he had found God while serving a jail sentence in Alaska for drunken driving and went to Asia to spread the Gospel. Hunziker's mother and his ex-wife are South Korean, and he spoke Korean.
There was no comment Wednesday from his family.
A call to the hotel, owned by an uncle, was answered by a man who would not identify himself. ``I can't tell you anything on this,'' he said gruffly before hanging up.
Hunziker's father, Edwin Hunziker, was not home. ``I'd rather not talk about this right now,'' said a woman who identified herself as his stepmother. Hunziker's mother, Jong Nye Hunziker of Anchorage, Alaska, has no telephone listing.
After Richardson went to North Korea to negotiate the release, Hunziker arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Nov. 27.
On his return, Hunziker said the North Koreans had treated him well, and he denied he was a spy.
Hunziker said he went to North Korea without a visa or other documents ``out of curiosity and to preach the Gospel.''
``I think he is a peaceful human being who made a mistake,'' Richardson said after Hunziker's release. ``He's not a spy.''
Hunziker had had problems before, though not as glamorous as allegations of espionage.
Alaska authorities had issued three warrants for Hunziker's arrest in July. According to court files in Anchorage, he failed to complete anger-management counseling and get alcohol screening and treatment after he was sentenced in 1995 and 1996 for reckless driving, assault and violating a domestic violence order.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Hunziker KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB