'Dateline' Shines a Light on Robert O'Dubaine's Sibling Killers
Published July 16 2021, 5:09 p.m. ET
When 31-year-old Robert O'Dubaine was found murdered in his Bucktown, Ill. garage in 1993, "His vehicle was gone and his keys were gone. His wallet was gone," Gang and Organized Crime squad Detective Pat McCarthy recalls to NBC's Dateline. "It just looked to be a sad but true thing: another crime in Chicago." In truth, this crime was anything but ordinary.
As Robert O'Dubaine's case enters the spotlight once again through July 16's Dateline: Twisted Loyalty, we thought we'd check in on the brother and sister who were responsible for his disturbing murder. So, where are Robert's then-girlfriend Catherine Suh and her brother, Andrew Suh, today?
Who are Catherine and Andrew Suh?
Catherine and Andrew Suh were born in South Korea to a traditional family who immigrated to the U.S. in 1976 and built a life in Chicago. According to Oxygen's Killer Siblings, on which the Suhs were also featured, "[Andrew] was the prize. He was the one that everyone paid attention to. And Catherine was a second-class citizen compared to her brother."
Growing up, the Suhs' father would beat Catherine. One time, "He allegedly doused himself and his daughter in gasoline and threatened to kill them for the family honor," a Chicago Tribune reporter said on the Oxygen true-crime series.
The Suh patriarch died in 1986 of stomach cancer, and the following year, mother Elizabeth Suh was found "stabbed more than 35 times under a pile of clothing" at the dry cleaning business she owned, according to the Chicago Tribune.
What happened to Robert O'Dubaine?
After the death of both of his parents, 13-year-old Andrew was placed under the guardianship of his sister, then 18. Robert O'Dubaine, who had been dating Catherine for some time, moved in with the siblings and became something of a father figure to Andrew.
Andrew, the sole recipient of his mother's $800,000 life insurance policy, used the money to attend a prep school (he eventually landed a full scholarship at Providence College), while Catherine and Robert used the rest of the money to open a somewhat successful Chicago bar together: Club Metropolis.
But while Andrew was away at college studying Economics and Japanese, he received a troubling call from his sister. Catherine called Andrew in Rhode Island to say that her boyfriend had been beating her and stealing money.
As Andrew explained in his full confession, Catherine said he "needed to step up and be the man of the family."
"He said it was done out of a sense of family duty," his episode of Killer Siblings explains. On the night of the murder, both Robert and Catherine, who were in an open relationship, were spending the night with their distinct lovers. Robert got a phone call from Catherine saying that she needed help because her car broke down.
Robert set off to the garage, which is where he was shot dead by Andrew, who had been instructed by his sister "to wear all black clothing and bring a change of clothes." As Detective McCarthy reflects on the crime, "[Catherine] turned and made a valedictorian a killer – how crazy is that when you think about it?"
Where are Catherine and Andrew Suh now?
Authorities quickly understood that Catherine had persuaded Andrew to kill Robert. After the siblings were arrested, Andrew confessed to the whole thing and Catherine got out on bail.
She moved to a high-end neighborhood in Chicago, began introducing herself as Kasia Kane and escaped to Hawaii, where she changed her name once again before her trial began.
In September 1995, Catherine was convicted of Robert's murder in absentia while her brother received 80 years for murder and 20 years for robbery, a sentence that was later reduced to 80 years on appeal.
During his time behind bars at the Dixon Correctional Center in Lee County, Ill., Andrew has become a model inmate, working with disabled and dying inmates, and has applied for clemency.
"Nothing in my past will ever change," he has said, according to The Cinemaholic. "I can't go back. But I know the person I am today and the person I can become tomorrow is something I'm focused on."
As for Catherine, — who lost contact with her brother decades ago — she lived a life of leisure under her pseudonym in Hawaii until she saw herself on the television show America's Most Wanted at age 27 in January 1996 and turned herself in to the FBI in Honolulu in March.
Catherine was sentenced to 30 years for armed robbery and life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in Robert's murder. She remains incarcerated at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Ill. and has also been considered a suspect in her mother's killing, but has never been charged in relation to that case.
Learn more about the Suh siblings on Dateline, Friday, July 16 at 10 p.m. on NBC.