Court TV Host: An American student is murdered in Korea, another confesses. Why is the case unsolved? Chat with Courttv.com's Harriet Ryan, author of a new book about the case, Murder in Room 103.

Court TV Host: If you'd like to take a look at Harriet's reporting on this amazing story, just go to to see her original web series. And if you'd like some more info on the book, go to Court TV's bookstore. And one more link... Here's a transcript of the last time Harriet chatted with us about this case, when she finished up reporting for the special report on the web:

Court TV Host: Welcome, Harriet, thanks for coming back to discuss the case and congratulations on the book.

Harriet Ryan: Thanks, it is great to be here!

Question from kiara: Harriet, what drew you to writing about this case?

Harriet Ryan: I guess the fact that it's such a mystery. A lot of the cases that I cover are pretty straight forward. It's often obvious who did it and what his or her motive was. But not this case. It seemed like the more I learned about the murder of Jamie Penich, the less I know about who the perpetrator was. And also, the victim is an ambitious girl from a small town in Pennsylvania, and I can definitely relate to that.

Question from tara: Welcome, Harriet, what is the most up-to-date news on this case?

Harriet Ryan: We are waiting for the student who was accused of killing Jamie -- Kenzi Snider -- to file a federal civil suit against the FBI and the Army. She is being represented by a professor at Northwestern's law school, and they are expected to pursue a suit soon -- I assume it will be for wrongful incarceration and for pain and suffering as a result of the interrogation that Kenzi says led to her falsely confessing to murdering her friend, Jamie.

Question from Taurus: Hi, Harriet. It certainly is an extremely bizarre and sad case. Have the parents ever resorted to a private investigator to go over to Korea and check things out?

Harriet Ryan: Initially, the Penichs were really frustrated with the investigation and they tried to do as much research as they could from their home in Pennsylvania. They do not have money to be going back and forth to Korea all the time, but they were able to ask a lot of good questions and they called upon Cyril Wecht, the Pittsburgh coroner at the time and through his intervention, Sen. Arlen Specter of PA was able to put some pressure on the Korean and American authorities to work what had basically become a cold case. That resulted in a reinvestigation that led to the charges against Kenzi Snider. And I think the Penichs were fairly happy with that investigation in so much as it resulted in a confession and an arrest and a trial. So I'm not sure what a PI in Korea would do for them now. Obviously, they are very unhappy with the situation as it stands, but it's hard to know what more investigation would turn up.

Question from DrChamp: Hello, Harriet! Have the parents have been co-operative with you and have no objections to the book?

Harriet Ryan: I interviewed Jamie's parents and they put me in touch with a lot of her friends and teachers. They are going through some difficult times (again) right now with another illness in their family so I doubt they've had time to read the book. The facts, I think, are fairly straight forward. It's the interpretation that causes controversy. What does Kenzi Snider's confession mean? Is it proof of guilt? Or is it proof of a coercive interrogation?

Court TV Host: Here's the question that everyone that everyone obviously wants to ask you...

Question from kiara: Harriet, did you come to a conclusion of who committed the murder ?

Harriet Ryan: Yeah, I get this all the time. The short answer is no. I feel like I have all the facts. But they are contradictory. I mean, on one hand, you have the manager of the motel where Jamie Penich was killed saying she saw a man with blood on his pants rushing out of Room 103 (the crime scene). And there's no blood on the clothing or boots that Kenzi Snider was wearing the night of the murder. But on the other hand, she gave this elaborate confession which accounted for at least one piece of evidence never made public: a long bruise across the victim's back. Kenzi told the investigators that she dropped Jamie on a ledge between two parts of the motel room. I can tell you I spent a lot of time with Kenzi and her family. Her mom and brothers are very nice people. And Kenzi seems to be a kind, intelligent, moral, forthright person.

Question from tara: Harriet, The murder is said to be quite a gory scene, did Kenzi have the strength to do this? To overpower her victim?

Harriet Ryan: It's an interesting question. A profiler I interviewed at the FBI told me that stomping -- the manner of death in this case -- is a male way to kill. It requires enough strength from the perpetrator to force the victim down on the ground to stomp them. Obviously, Kenzi is a female. She is quite a bit larger than Jamie, though. Jamie was 5'2" and 110lbs. Kenzi was five inches and about 70 pounds larger. So I mean, yes, she could have overpowered Jamie. In her confession, she said that she backhanded Jamie and that the force of the blow knocked Jamie unconscious.

Question from tryingout839: What do the investigators who allegedly got Kenzi to confess think about it now, looking back on it? Do they wish they had done things differently?

Harriet Ryan: I interviewed the lead investigator for the Army and the FBI agent who assisted him and they both feel that Kenzi Snider is absolutely guilty. The FBI agent, Seung Lee, sort of stunned me because he has such a high opinion of Kenzi and her mother even as he thinks she is guilty, guilty, guilty. He said she was well-spoken, polite, knowledgeable, and he respected how well she had done in school and the community service she did. He told me that he thought it was her morality that led her to confess. I think everyone involved believes that if there had been a video camera in the interrogation there would be no questions about whether the confession was coerced. That's sort of odd because the people who think Kenzi is guilty believe that and the people who believe she is innocent do too.

Question from kiara: Harriet, please compare and contrast the alleged false confession in this case with the one in the Michael Crowe case, the brother accused of murdering his little sister in California.

Harriet Ryan: I think almost everyone (with the exceptions of a few police officers) believes that the confessions/admissions of Michael Crowe and his friend Josh Treadway were absolutely coerced. If you've watched those interviews, and I have to tell you, I've watched like 40 hours of them, you can see the boys lose their grip on reality and start saying whatever the cops want them to. A homeless man was convicted in Stephanie Crowe's death and there was DNA linking him to the stabbing. Kenzi Snider's case is different because there is no consensus that it was a false confession. It's an open question. People have strong opinions, but there hasn't been something like the DNA in the Crowe case that we can point to and say ah-ha! Also, the interrogation in the Snider case where nowhere near as long or as intense as the interviews in the Crowe case. I mean those boys were questioned for I think up to 25 hours. It's been a while since I looked at that case, but they were marathon sessions. Exhaustion played a role as did the fact that they were minors. Kenzi was 20 years old.

Question from dippitydoodles: Is the case still being investigated by any law enforcement agencies in any country?

Harriet Ryan: At this point, no. The US Army says the case was closed when they handed Kenzi over to the South Korean authorities for trial. I think that if she does sue, there will be the equivalent of a re-re-investigation because the FBI and the Army will have to defend themselves.

Court TV Host: What were the most important things about the case that you learned after your original series ran on the website, while you were researching the book?

Harriet Ryan: There are a few. I got to interview Mark Mansfield, the lead Army investigator. He didn't speak to me for my first piece, but agreed to for the book. He was able to explain to me a lot of his investigation -- why he took certain steps, what he thought was important. And I was able to speak to the soldier suspects. They gave me their alibis -- all but one guy did, I should say -- and explained why they did what they did. And I have to say, at least two of them were answering my questions from Iraq. They were very cooperative.

Question from tara: Harriet, where is Kenzi at this time?

Harriet Ryan: Last I know for sure, she was living in West Virginia.

Question from blowification: Do you think the story you wrote about would make a good movie? Who would play Kenzi?

Harriet Ryan: Hmmm... I don't know. I think it will make a good documentary, and CTV is doing one that will air on Oct. 23, hosted by Nancy Grace. Kenzi will play herself in that.

Question from tara: Harriet, at one time Kenzi was attending Marshall University. Is she still in school?

Harriet Ryan: No, she defaulted on her student loans while she was in jail in Korea. So she has to pay them back before she can enroll again.

Court TV Host: Any closing thoughts?

Harriet Ryan: I appreciate all your questions. If you haven't heard of this case before and you aren't sure you want to invest in a book then I recommend you go on our web site to www.courttv.com/room_103 and read that. If you like what you see, check out the book - thanks guys!

Court TV Host: Thanks, Harriet.