SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean court has acquitted an American woman accused of beating to death another U.S. student for allegedly making unwanted sexual advances.

	Penich family
	Jamie Lynn Penich, left, and Kenzi Snider were photographed together in Seoul, South Korea, shortly before Penich's death.

Seoul District Court Justice Kim Nam-tae said today there wasn't enough evidence to convict 21-year-old Kenzi Snider of killing Jamie Lynn Penich at a Seoul motel in 2001.

Kim said the court decided not to consider the confession Snider made to FBI and U.S. military investigators because Snider claimed she had been coerced into making it.

"There is no other evidence to find her guilty of the accused crimes. She is not guilty," Kim said.

Snider's mother, Heath Bozonie, expressed relief as well as frustration.

"I'm very happy. I'd like to thank all the prison guards and the officials who have been very kind," Bozonie said. "I just can't figure out why we wasted 1 1/2 years to get where we were before."

Snider, of St. Cloud, Minn., was a student at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., and Penich, 21, of Derry Township, was from the University of Pittsburgh.

The women were exchange students at Keimyung University in southern South Korea in 2001.

Prosecutors said Snider beat and stomped Penich to death in a rage triggered when Penich tried to undress Snider after the two kissed in the motel room. The two had danced and drank at a bar in Seoul with two GIs on the night of Penich's death.

Snider confessed to the killing during questioning by FBI and U.S. Army investigators before her extradition to South Korea in December. But she later said she had been coerced into making the confession and accused investigators of framing her to protect two American soldiers who she claimed killed Penich.

Seungkyu Lee, the FBI chief in South Korea who had received Snider's confession in the United States, declined to comment.

Snider was indicted in January on charges of homicide, and the trial began in early March. Prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison sentence.