From the moment the short and squat Joe Son accompanied the hulking cross-bearing Kimo to the Octagon for UFC 3, he’s been a bit of a punch-line.
He followed that by rather dramatically professing his own faith in Jesus — and expertise in the eponymous art of Josondo — and entering the Octagon, where he took countless then-legal low blows. So, yeah, punch-line.
Then he showed up in Austin Powers as Random Task, throwing a shoe, rather than Odd Job’s razor-brimmed hat. There, at least, he seemed in on the joke.
Things turned dark though when his past came to light:
Son pleaded guilty to felony vandalism in 2008 and was placed on probation. As a condition of his plea agreement, Son was required to provide a DNA sample. In 2008, the DNA sample was linked to a 1990 gang rape. Already in custody for a probation violation, Son was arrested at the Theo Lacy facility on October 7, 2008.
In October 2008, Son was charged by California authorities in relation to his participation in a 1990 gang rape. He was initially charged in Orange County, California, with five counts of rape, two felony counts of forcible sodomy, two felony counts of sodomy in concert by force, seven felony counts of forcible oral copulation, and one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object by force. He faced a maximum sentence of 275 years to life if convicted.
Son and an accomplice tortured and repeatedly raped the victim before releasing her with her underwear tied around her eyes. During the trial the woman, now aged 41, said Son told her: ‘It’s Christmas. This is your lucky day.’
Before jury selection began for his trial in early August 2011, the initial charges against Son were dropped having expired due to the statute of limitations. Son was then charged with conspiracy to commit torture and murder, crimes which have no statute of limitations. In late August, Son was found guilty of one felony count of torture.
During the trial, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office maintained that both Son and his co-defendant, Santiago Lopez Gaitan, pistol-whipped their female victim, threatened to kill her repeatedly, and raped her before finally releasing her. His co-defendant in the case Santiago Gaitan, 40, pleaded guilty to rape, kidnapping and other charges, and was sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison. In September 2011, Son was sentenced to life in prison.
In October 2011, Son was accused of killing his cellmate, a convicted sex offender.
On a much, much lighter note, Joe Son lost a fight to Joe Moreira — who had gone on to train Kimo in jiu-jitsu — at Xtreme Pankration 2, in 2002. His listed method of losing? Submission (Terror).
I’m not sure what that means.
(Hat tip to John, who brought over UFCs 1 and 2 on nth-generation VHS tape, lo those many years ago.)