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Bryan
P. KIM
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Parricide
Number of victims: 2
Date of murder: December 5,
2006
Date of arrest:
Next day
Date of birth:
May 9,
1988
Victims profile: Richard and Teresa Kim (his parents)
Method of murder: Stabbing
with knife
/ Ligature
strangulation
Location: Spokane
County, Washington, USA
Status: Sentenced to life in prison
without possibility of parole on February 21,
2008
SPOKANE,
Wash. - 19-year-old former Mount Spokane High School
student Bryan Kim was sentenced to life in prison
without possiblity of parole Thursday, for murdering
his parents.
Kim was
found guilty on two charges of Aggravated First-Degree
Murder in the deaths of his parents Richard and
Teresa Kim. Investigators say Richard Kim died as a
result of stabbing, and Teresa Kim was strangled to
death.
Detectives
said that when they arrested Bryan, he had two debit
cards, one belonging to himself, and another
presumably belonging to his father. Right next to
the cards was a deposit slip showing a $1,000
deposit into Bryan Kim's bank account the day after
his father died. Bank records obtained through
Jessica Kim, the Kim's daughter, show that $1,000
was taken out of Richard Kim's bank account on
December 6th.
According
to court documents, investigators also found that a
gun was missing from the Kim's safe. A gun believed
to have come from that safe was located in Bryan
Kim's bedroom.
Another
clue came from Bryan Kim's girlfriend, who said Kim
told her that he and his parents had a fight the
night before they died. The girlfriend said Kim said
Richard and Teresa went out for a walk and never
came back. That was after they told him that he
needed to find another place to live after the first
of the year.
After his
arrest, Kim "showed no emotions of grief and never
showed any emotion of grief during the execution of
the warrant on his person", according to court
documents. Detectives say Kim said unsolicited, "Go
on with what you're gonna do. Book me. I'm gonna cry
myself to sleep later. Let's get this going.".
Kim told
jail personnel who booked him that he is bi-polar,
suffers from depression and takes medication for
both disorders.
Sister, girlfriend
could testify against Bryan Kim
KXLY.com Staff
Wednesday, June 27th,
2007
SPOKANE -- The north
Spokane County teen suspected of killing his parents
in their Mt. Spokane home may be prosecuted with the
help of his sister and former girlfriend.
Bryan Kim faces his
aggravated murder trial later this fall but the
state has already published its list of witnesses.
Among those that may be called to testify is Jessica
Kim, the defendant's sister.
She is expected to
testify her brother had an explosive temper and that
her parents were asking him to move out of their
home at the time of the killing.
Caitlin Ritchey,
Bryan's former girlfriend, may also be called to
testify.
During the
investigation into the murders, Bryan Kim explained
his parent's disappearance to her by saying they had
taken a walk the night of their murders but had
never returned.
Deputies found the
bodies of Richard and Teresa Kim in their garage the
next day.
911 calls from Mt.
Spokane murders released
Jeff Humphrey
/
KXLY4 Reporter
Friday, May 04th, 2007
SPOKANE -- Newly
released 9-1-1 recordings give disturbing new
insights into the early December murders of a
husband and wife in their Mt. Spokane home.
Richard and Terri Kim
were killed in individual ambushes allegedly
committed by their 18-year-old son Bryan as they
came home from work the evening of December 5th.
Bryan Kim faces two charges of 1st Degree Murder in
the deaths of his parents.
When Spokane County
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the Kim residence on
December 6th while responding on a welfare call they
found the killer had not finished the process of
cleaning up the crime scene.
The less than four
minutes of audio recordings released Friday show
that a timely call to the 9-1-1 dispatch center cut
short any plans the suspect had for concealing the
killings or making his getaway.
That call came from
Cal Buhl, a co-worker of Richard Kim’s, who couldn’t
get reception for his cellphone from the Kim
residence so he contacted authorities using his
car’s OnStar system. He contacted authorities
through OnStar letting them know that during his
personal welfare check of the Kim residence he
spotted blood inside the home and “blood coming out
of the home.”
Because Buhl didn’t
know the Kims’ address, the OnStar operator was able
to locate his position at the Kim residence using
the GPS tracker in his car.
While dispatchers were
sending deputies to the scene and word spread
through the community the Kims were missing they
received another call from Jessica Kim, the couple’s
daughter, who wanted to help deputies with their
search not knowing it was already too late.
Her brother Bryan
remains in custody. After waiving his rights to a
speedy trial in late January he is now scheduled to
go on trial for his parents’ murders in June.
Bryan Kim pleads not guilty
in parents' murders
KXLY.com Staff
Tuesday, January 23rd,
2007
SPOKANE -- Bryan Kim, the 18-year-old
suspected of murdering his parents in their Mt.
Spokane home in December, appeared in court Tuesday
and pled not guilty on four separate charges related
to the murders of Richard and Terri Kim.
Kim faces two charges of 1st
Degree Murder in the deaths of his parents, who were
killed on the evening of December 5th, 2006 on the
property of their Mt. Spokane home.
He also faces a 2nd Degree
Theft charge for allegedly stealing $1,000 from his
parents’ bank account and a charge of possession of
stolen property for having his dad’s bank card in
his possession which he allegedly used to withdraw
funds from his parents’ account.
Kim was taken into custody at
Mount Spokane High School on December 6th after
deputies did a welfare check at the family residence
and found bodies of Richard and Terri Kim and
evidence of their murders.
Court records show he had a
history of violence including several run-ins with
local law enforcement and had reportedly been given
an ultimatum by his parents to move out.
In court Tuesday Kim also
waived his right to speedy trial until June, which
will give his defense attorney – John Stine – more
time to prepare his case.
Kim had been scheduled to go to
trial in March.
Bryan Kim formally charged
in Mt Spokane deaths
Civil proceeding also
underway
Jeff Humphrey /
KXLY4 Reporter
Thursday, January
11th, 2007
SPOKANE -- The teen suspected
of killing his parents on Mt Spokane made his first
appearance in Superior Court Thursday. Richard and
Terri Kim were murdered last month and Thursday
afternoon their only son Bryan was formally charged
in their deaths.
As the criminal matter moves
forward, there is also a civil proceeding underway;
one where Bryan Kim’s sister is now struggling to
settle her parents’ estate and needs her brother’s
help to do it.
Jessica Kim is expected to
testify against her brother in trial, detailing his
previous attacks on their parents and that the
victim’s had told Bryan he would need to move out of
the home by January 1, 2007.
Ordinarily, Bryan Kim would be
barred from talking to the State’s witnesses, but
Thursday his Defense Attorney won the right for the
siblings to at least be able to visit about their
parents’ financial affairs.
Also in court, Prosecutors
asked the judge to maintain Kim’s $1 million bond,
especially in light of the new charges against him.
The court agreed and let the bond stand.
Kim will be arraigned and
expected to enter a not guilty plea on January 23rd.
Prosecutors file new charges
in Mount Spokane murders
Teen, if convicted, could
face death penalty
KXLY.com Staff
Wednesday, January
10th, 2007
SPOKANE -- Prosecutors have
charged Bryan Kim, the teen suspected of killing his
parents in their Mount Spokane home in December,
with two counts of 1st Degree Aggravated Murder.
The Spokane County Prosecutor's
Office filed two 1st Degree Murder charges against
Kim, 18, Wednesday afternoon for the murders of his
parents, Richard and Terri Kim.
Prosecutors allege that Richard
Kim was murdered inside his home around 5:30 p.m. on
the night of December 5th. Kim was stabbed five
times in the neck and arms near a closet in the
entryway of the home.
Investigators determined that
Terri Kim was murdered approximately two hours later
in the garage, presumably as she was coming home
from work. She received blunt force trauma to the
head and then zip ties were placed around her neck
and tightened, strangling her. Because one zip tie
was not big enough to fit around her neck two of
them were looped together.
If convicted on the aggravated
murder charges, Kim could face either life in prison
without the possibility of parole or the death
penalty.
"When you charge first degree
murder with aggravating circumstances there are two
options that the state has as far as penalties,"
Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll said Wednesday
afternoon. "The first one carries a minimum of life
in prison without the possibility of parole. The
second one introduces the possibility of the death
penalty."
Additionally, prosecutors have
filed two additional charges Thursday. The first is
a charge of 2nd Degree Theft for allegedly stealing
$1,000 from his parents’ bank account. The second
charge is for possession of stolen property for
having his dad’s bank card in his possession which
he allegedly used to withdraw funds from his parents’
account.
Detectives read Bryan Kim the
new charges in the Spokane County Jail. After being
held on a suicide watch following his arrest, Kim is
now living in the general population of inmates.
He is expected to make his
first appearance on the new charges in Spokane
Superior Court next week.
Prosecutors may upgrade charges against teen
murder suspect
Jeff Humphrey /
KXLY4 Reporter
Tuesday, January 09th, 2007
SPOKANE -- Spokane prosecutors are
expected on Wednesday to upgrade criminal charges against Bryan Kim, the
18-year-old high school student suspected of killing his parents back in
December inside their Mount Spokane home.
Up until this point Bryan Kim was
held on 2nd Degree Murder charges, however law enforcement sources
familiar with the case have confirmed that Spokane prosecutors intend to
file at least one 1st Degree Murder charge after detectives found
several indications Bryan Kim allegedly planned the attack on his
parents.
“It's much easier to charge 2nd
Degree Murder, we did that in both instances, I would not be surprised
if we end up going to the prosecutor's office and asking to upgrade that
at some point in the future,” Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman
Sergeant Dave Reagan said in an interview last December.
Prosecutors have not filed their
amended information in Spokane Superior Court, however a look at the
facts and the evidence processed at the crime scene appear to show that
Bryan Kim allegedly pre-planned the murders of his parents. The evidence
supporting an upgrade on at least one murder charge might include zip
ties which were used in the murder of his mother Terri.
A search warrant shows detectives
found a bag of zip ties in the Kims’ garage. However if Terri Kim was
strangled with zip ties inside her home and if Bryan took the time to go
out into the garage and get the ligature that could be premeditation.
Richard Kim, Bryan’s father, was
stabbed to death; presumably Bryan could not have allegedly killed his
parents simultaneously so prosecutors could argue at least the second
murder was premeditated.
The difference between 1st and 2nd
Degree Murder when it comes to sentencing is about 10 years more in
prison per homicide.
The anticipated filing of at least
one amended murder charge would clear the way for Bryan Kim's first
appearance in Spokane County Superior Court which could happen within
the week.
Deputies reponded to
disturbance at Kim house in 2005
Jeff Humphrey /
KXLY4 Reporter
Wednesday, December
20th, 2006
SPOKANE -- A new police report,
released on Wednesday, had provided more insight
into the bizarre relationship between Bryan Kim and
his parents.
Kim is suspected of killing his
mother and father in early December inside their Mt.
Spokane home. He has a history of alleged domestic
violence dating back to 2002.
An incident has now surfaced from
2005. It is a case of false imprisonment involving
Bryan Kim, Teresa Kim and Spokane County sheriff’s
deputies.
According to police reports,
Bryan Kim held his mother captive on their back
porch when he was caught lying about his grades in
summer school. After being scolded by his mother,
Kim allegedly locked her out of their house. The
problem was the back porch is on the second story of
their home, and Teresa Kim had no way of climbing
down.
Thirty minutes into the lockout,
Bryan Kim reportedly asked his mother, “are you
going to be nicer to me?” When Teresa Kim said he
was still in trouble, he replied, “well, you can
stay out there longer.”
Teresa Kim stayed on the porch
for another 90 minutes before Richard Kim, Bryan’s
dad, called and ordered his son to open the door.
Bryan told his dad that his mother “was an imbecile
and could have gotten down at any time.”
By the time sheriff’s deputies
had arrived, Bryan Kim was gone. The case was either
not referred to prosecutors or the unlawful
imprisonment charge was dropped by the Prosecutor’s
Office.
Search warrants yield new
clues in Mt. Spokane murders
Jeff Humphrey /
KXLY4 Reporter
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
SPOKANE -- Search warrants filed
in the Bryan Kim murder case detail what
investigators have found so far as they piece
together what happened the night of December 5th
that ended with Richard and Terri Kim’s murders at
their Mt. Spokane home.
Investigators spent four days at
the Kims’ Mt. Spokane home looking for clues in
their murders. According to court documents it
appears that after 18-year-old Bryan Kim allegedly
killed his parents he went to great lengths to try
and prevent himself from being connected to the
crimes. Search warrants executed at the home show
Bryan was allegedly using a pair of Shop-Vacs to
pick up blood from the killings.
Detectives recovered a bucket on
the floor and several bottles of household chemicals
that seems to show the teen was trying to eliminate
any signs of the fatal stabbing. A Bobcat front-loader
was used to move the victims’ bodies from the home.
Authorities working to piece
together clues that would link Bryan to the crime
scene and the murders of his parents have collected
more than 130 pieces of evidence and searched him,
his car, even his locker at Mt. Spokane High School.
They also seized the lint trap from the dryer at the
family’s home, suspect that Bryan may have washed
the clothes he allegedly wore during the murders and
a button off the garage door opener which had a
bloody finger print on it that may belong to the
murder suspect.
Bryan Kim, who has a history of
depression and Bi-polar Disorder, remains in custody
at the Spokane County Jail where he is under around-the-clock
observation to insure he doesn’t injure himself.
Detectives: Richard Kim
struggled, wife Terri strangled with zip ties
Melissa Luck / KXLY4 Executive
Producer
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
SPOKANE -- Detectives discussing
last week’s murders of Richard and Terri Kim at
their Mt. Spokane home Wednesday revealed that
Richard may have put up a struggle before he died
while his wife was strangled with plastic zip ties.
The new information was released
during a media briefing Wednesday afternoon at the
Public Safety Building in downtown Spokane.
The Kims’ son, 18-year-old Bryan
Kim, is in custody at the Spokane County Jail and is
charged with his parents’ murders. Sheriff's
deputies believe Richard and Terri were ambushed
when they arrived home from work a week ago Tuesday.
Detectives are still not sure
when exactly they were killed, whether it was
Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. They also spent
four days searching the home and found several
knives though they aren't sure which one - if any -
is the one used to kill Richard Kim.
There is also evidence that shows
Richard Kim was able to put up some amount of
struggle while he was being attacked, though it is
not known whether or not his wife had a chance
against her attacker.
As the physical evidence adds up,
the question of why this couple was murdered remains.
“I don't know that we'll ever
know that answer,” Sergeant Jim Goodwin of the
Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. “I know a lot
of people would like to know that but we don't
always in these cases. Motive is not something we
always end up having and being able to explain to
people."
While detectives did reveal some
information from their ongoing investigation they
were cautious not to release too much so as to avoid
impacting Bryan Kim’s right to a fair trial.
Teen murder suspect had access
to handgun, ammunition
Jeff Humphrey /
KXLY4 Reporter
Monday, December 11th, 2006
SPOKANE -- Bryan Kim, the 18-year-old
suspect in the murders of his parents last week at
their Mt. Spokane home, may have had access to a
handgun and ammunition before or after he allegedly
killed his parents.
Kim was arrested December 6th on
two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of
his parents Richard and Terri Kim, whose bodies were
found in an outbuilding on the family’s property on
Mt. Spokane last Wednesday.
Detectives processing the crime
scene say when they searched Richard and Terri Kim’s
master bedroom they found a safe that had been
forced open with tools from the garage. Next to the
safe they found the manufacturer's box that a Ruger
.22 caliber target pistol came in but no sign of the
weapon.
During their search of Bryan
Kim’s room investigators found an unloaded .22
caliber pistol with two loaded magazines;
authorities expressed relief that the day after he
allegedly murdered his parents that Bryan did not
take the pistol with him to Mt. Spokane High School.
“I can tell you there's been a
history of assaultive behavior between him and his
parents,” Sergeant Dave Reagan with the Spokane
County Sheriff’s Office said. “We learned that from
both our criminal records and speaking to his sister
and other sources. It would appear Bryan has a
temper.”
Because of that temper the
Spokane County Jail is taking extra special
precautions in housing Kim.
Autopsy
shows victims were stabbed, strangled
KHQ.com
Dec 8, 2006
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Spokane
County Sheriff's Department says an autopsy has
revealed the cause of death for double homicide
victims Richard and Teresa Kim. Officials say
Richard Kim died of multiple stab wounds. Teresa
Kim was reportedly strangled. The couples 18-year-old
son Bryan P. Kim is facing two counts of second-degree
murder in the deaths. Their bloody bodies were
found in the bucket of a small tractor in an
outbuilding of their Mount Spokane-area home
yesterday.
Court documents say Bryan Kim
suffers from bipolar disorder and had just been told
he would have to move out of the family home by
January.
Richard Kim was a respiratory
specialist at Apria Health Services. Teresa Kim was
a math teacher at Rogers High School, which ended
classes early Thursday to give students and staff
time to grieve. Detectives told a judge that Bryan
Kim has a history of prior arrests for assault,
kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment involving his
parents.
According to court documents
obtained by KHQ, police had been to Bryan Kim's home
at least two times to resolve fights he had with his
parents.
Court documents reveal the
younger Kim injured his mother with a golf club in
November 2002. According to the police report, the
boy tried to hit his father with the club, missed,
and then threw the club at the wall. It bounced off
the wall and hit his mother in the head, "leaving a
small lump", the report said.
The report said he then ran
upstairs to his room and slammed the door several
times and broke the doorframe.
After that incident, Kim was
ordered to participate in a psychiatric program. A
judge also labeled him a "threat to community safety".
Before the golf club incident
however, Kim had already been in trouble with police.
According to court documents, police were called to
the Kim residence in July 2002 after Brian had holed
himself up in the family's bathroom for more than
four hours.
Teresa Kim called police for help
in dealing with her son. When police arrived, Bryan
refused to open the door. Teresa gave the officers
permission to break down the door, at which point
Bryan fought with the officers and threatened them
with a broomstick. According to the documents, an
officer sprayed pepper spray into Bryan's eyes and
placed him in handcuffs.
Bryan's run-ins with the law
paint one picture, but other teenagers who knew him
at Mt. Spokane High School painted another. Those
who spoke to KHQ said they didn't believe Kim to be
a violent person. They called him "nice", and
someone who liked to talk to people.
Bryan Kim also maintained a space
on myspace.com, using the handle "Victor Vidonia".
On his site, he included his favorite music,
pictures of friends - including someone he called
his girlfriend - and wrote several entries on a blog.
Bail set at $1
Million in double homicide
KXLY.com Staff
Thursday, December
07th, 2006
SPOKANE -- Bryan Kim
made his first appearance in Superior Court Thursday
for the murders of his parents at their Mt. Spokane
home and bail was set at a half-million dollars each
on two counts of 2nd Degree Murder.
An autopsy completed
Thursday showed that Bryan Kim’s father Richard died
from multiple stab wounds while Richard’s wife Terri
died from asphyxia due to ligature strangulation.
This new information
comes on the heels of the revelation in court
documents released Thursday that put into focus how
the teen left his home Wednesday morning, picked up
his girlfriend to take her to school, withdrew
$1,000 from his dad’s bank account and attended
school, all while his parents - who he is accused of
murdering - were lying dead in the bucket of a
Bobcat front-loader on the family’s property at Mt.
Spokane.
The situation unfolded
Wednesday morning as a co-worker of Bryan’s mom,
Terri, called authorities concerned for her welfare
since she hadn’t shown up for work at Rogers High
School where she was a math teacher. Terri’s co-worker
also reported that Richard Kim hadn’t shown up for
work at Apria Health Services that morning either.
Three Spokane County
Sheriff deputies headed to the Kim residence to
conduct a welfare check and found several of
Richard’s co-workers already at the home looking for
him since he hadn’t shown up for work. A cellphone
was found lying on the ground near the home with
blood on it and tire tracks were found backed up to
the front door that appeared to have been made by a
Bobcat-type front-loader.
A detective contacted
the Kims’ daughter, who doesn’t live at the home,
and she confirmed that Bryan had Bi-Polar disorder
and related to them that her parents had told Bryan,
who had a history of extremely violent behavior
toward his parents, to move out after the first of
the year. She had last spoken to her parents on
Tuesday.
The doors to the home
were locked and cars belonging to Richard and Terri
were still in their garage but, while looking into
the front of the home one of the deputies noticed
blood in the foyer and a bucket with a sponge in it.
Making a forced entry into the home at that point
the deputies found bloody clothing and shoes and
blood in the foyer closet.
As they continued
their search of the home the deputies found a safe
in the master bedroom that had been forced open but
could not locate either Richard or Terri Kim.
Observing a nearby outbuilding the deputies entered
the locked building and inside found a Bobcat front-loader
and the remains of two deceased persons in the
bucket of the Bobcat.
The victims had
apparently died from homicidal violence, according
to the affidavit of probable cause; later Thursday
the autopsy confirmed Richard died from multiple
stab wounds while his wife Terri was strangulated.
Deputies drove to Mt.
Spokane High School where Bryan Kim attends school
and found him there. School principal John Hook said
that Kim had missed his morning classes at The Skill
Center while Kim claimed that he’d had an argument
with his parents the night before over his internet
use but they had gone out for a walk and he hadn’t
seen them since. In a separate meeting with Kim’s
girlfriend she said Bryan had told him his parents
had gone out for a walk the night before as well.
After deputies
obtained search warrants for the Kim residence,
Bryan’s car and school locker he was taken into
custody and driven to the Public Safety Building,
saying he understood "the procedure" and once
downtown said it would be wise for him to "Lawyer
up" after detectives advised him of his rights.
"Go on with what
you’re gonna do," Kim said in an unsolicited
statement to detectives as he was being placed under
arrest for his parents’ murder. " Book me. I’m gonna
cry myself to sleep later. Lets get this going."
Detectives commented
Kim displayed no emotion of grief over his parents’
death while he was being placed under arrest.
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