Trial begins for teen accused of killing parents
The trial of Bryan Patrick Kim, the Spokane teenager charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the 2006 deaths of his parents, started late Thursday after three and a half days of jury selection.
Kim, 19, is accused of killing Richard and Terri Kim, a respiratory therapist and a high school math teacher, as they returned to their Mount Spokane home after work Dec. 5, 2006. After escalating tensions over his poor grades and his explosive temper, the Kims had told their son he had to move out by the end of the year.
Kim has a bipolar disorder and takes medication for that condition, according to court records.
In his opening statement, Spokane County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll said he hopes the newly impaneled jury will return a “just and correct decision” in the trial, expected to last up to three weeks. The state upgraded the charges from second- to first-degree aggravated murder after an investigation that convinced prosecutors that Kim planned the killings.
Driscoll outlined how Kim allegedly used a Bobcat front loader to move his parents’ bodies from where they were killed, placing garbage bags over their heads and hiding the bodies in an outbuilding. He said Kim broke into a gun safe and tried to remove blood stains where his father was stabbed five times. He laundered the clothes he was wearing, but one blood spot found by investigators turned out to be his mother’s, who was bludgeoned and strangled in the family garage, Driscoll said.
The next day, Kim dropped off his girlfriend at Mt. Spokane High School and transferred $1,000 from his father’s account to his. He went shopping with some of the money, buying parts for his car and a video game. Kim is also charged with second-degree theft for taking the money from his parents’ bank account, plus an additional charge of possession of stolen property for carrying his father’s bank card. When Kim was arrested at school Dec. 6, the $1,000 deposit slip was found in his pocket.
Spokane County Public Defender John Stine urged the jurors to keep open minds.
Stine said he’ll present testimony about Kim’s psychiatric illness.
“The story in a trial must be supported by facts. What you don’t hear is also important,” Stine said.
“I’m confident when you hear the evidence you’ll find Bryan is not guilty of aggravated first-degree murder,” he added.
Since Monday, a group of 85 prospective jurors had been closely questioned about pretrial publicity in the Kim case, their experiences with mental illness, and whether they or their families and friends have been victims of violent crime.
Three alternates will join the eight-woman, four-man jury in all deliberations. The trial resumes Monday in the courtroom of Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen.