Killer's shocking lies before triple murder
Kwang Kyung Yoo, 51, earlier this year pleaded guilty to murdering Min Cho, 41, and a seven-year-old child at Yoo's North Parramatta taekwondo studio as well as Ms Cho's husband, Steven Cho, 39, at his Baulkham Hills home in February last year.
A statement of agreed facts tendered to the court do not state Yoo's motivation for the horrific murders.
However, they do reveal that in the lead-up he lied to his wife that he was being given a BMW as a work car and instead took Ms Cho's BMW X5 after killing her.
The court documents also reveal he was obsessed with wealth and had told lies about his academic credentials and having competed at the Olympics.
Yoo confirmed his three guilty pleas in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday.
'Yes,' Yoo said, appearing from prison via videolink, as he confirmed he would plea guilty to each murder.
Yoo hung his head during Friday's mention in the Supreme Court. Kwang Kyung Yoo murdered three people. Credit: Supplied Yoo falsely claimed he competed at the Olympics. Facebook Credit: Supplied
Yoo ran the Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy at North Parramatta and was known to his students as 'Master Lion' at the time of the horrific triple murder.
According to court documents, in January last year, he lied to his wife when he told her that a primary school – where he had a part-time job – was giving him a BMW as a work car.
In the 11 days leading up to the horrific murders, Yoo was captured on CCTV driving into the complex where the Cho family lived in his grey Toyota Camry on five occasions
The court was told that about 6.22pm on February 19, after the other parents and students had left his taekwondo studio, Yoo strangled Ms Cho in a storeroom before dragging her body into the office.
Later that evening, he was captured on CCTV taking Ms Cho's car keys before he later called his wife to say his new BMW had arrived.
'The car has arrived,' he told her during a brief phone call. Murder victims Min Cho and her husband Steven. Supplied Credit: Supplied
He then killed the seven-year-old boy in the storeroom by strangling him.
At 8.48pm, he drove Ms Cho's BMW X5 away from the scene to her Baulkham Hills townhouse where he broke in.
Mr Cho returned home and was stabbed to death by Yoo, with blows to the head, neck and chest.
Mr Cho stabbed Yoo in self-defence but was killed in the altercation.
Yoo returned to his studio and called his wife, saying: 'I've been stabbed with a knife.'
He drove to Westmead Hospital and was treated for a collapsed lung and stab wounds.
He claimed to police that he had been stabbed by three people in the carpark of a North Parramatta Woolworths; however, officers quickly established that was a lie after viewing CCTV footage.
Police searched Ms Cho's BMW, which Yoo had driven to hospital, and found traces of blood inside.
Mr Cho's body was discovered the next day when friends became concerned and went to the couple's home.
Police then went to the Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy, where they noticed blood on the front steps before the bodies of Ms Cho and the boy were found inside. Yoo's taekwondo studio where two bodies were discovered. NewsWire / Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia Police outside the Chos' Baulkham Hills home. NewsWire/Gaye Gerard. Credit: News Corp Australia
'During the investigation, police obtained evidence that suggested that the offender (Yoo) had interests in luxury items, social status and wealth,' the court documents state.
Police found evidence of Yoo inspecting properties and falsely telling agents that he was acting on behalf of his wealthy employer or his parents who had a budget of up to $50m.
He showed the mother of one of his students a picture that he falsely claimed was taken from his home with Harbour Bridge views.
He had further lied about owning property in Sydney's eastern suburbs and luxury cars and that he holidayed in New York and California.
Yoo also told people, including his wife and sister, that he had a master's degree and PHD from Macquarie University and The University of Sydney.
However, both institutions had no record of him.
He was also found to have lied about competing in taekwondo at the 2000 Olympics.
Yoo will appear in court again next week when a date will be set for sentence proceedings.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Man sentenced for lighting own unit on fire out of frustration at noisy neighbours
A Canberra man who tried to claim he was acting in self-defence when he set his own unit on fire, because he was frustrated after years of loud music from his neighbour, has been sentenced for arson in the ACT Supreme Court. Steven Kazmar-Hall, 39, was found guilty of arson after he set the fire in April last year. The court heard he had run up the street afterwards to escape the fire. The court rejected his self-defence argument that he had set the fire out of frustration because of mental health effects from noise he had endured for three years. Acting Justice Rebecca Christensen said in her judgement, the fire left the home uninhabitable, although it did not spread beyond his unit. The evidence presented in the trial included photographs of the "sizeable sound system" that was used by the neighbour in his unit. Acting Justice Christensen said it was a serious offence that put other vulnerable residents at risk. "Not only was their safety, and their lives, put at risk, but a number of tenants seemingly experienced significant distress from the fire," Acting Justice Christensen said. "The offender himself at the trial described that there were people 'screaming' after his conduct." But Acting Justice Christensen said Kazmar-Hall's culpability was reduced. "This would lead to significant distress and frustration for anyone, let alone a person suffering the mental health challenges of the offender." But Acting Justice Christensen said it was still serious offending. Kazmar-Hall has been in custody since the fire. He was sentenced to eight months in jail, but was freed after the sentencing because he had already served his time.
Sydney Morning Herald
8 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Private placements', property and cars: Inside WA's multimillion-dollar fraud trial
The first week of the trial of an alleged Perth-based fraudster heard his former clients claimed they had no idea he was hedging their investments with real estate and cars, rather than keeping the funds safe in a 'blocked bank account'. Private investor Chris Marco is on trial in West Australia's Supreme Court, facing 44 charges after allegedly defrauding investors of about $36.4 million. His former executive assistant, Linda Marissen, has been charged with 30 offences for her alleged role in the crimes. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The minimum investment to work with Marco was $100,000, and his clients included an environmental scientist and a Sydney-based insurance underwriter. In his opening statement, Prosecutor Steven Whybrow said Marco spent years developing credibility with his clients between 2011 and 2018, promising to invest their money in lucrative overseas investment structures called 'private placements'. Private placements are when a company raises money by selling shares, bonds, or securities to a select group of private investors, rather than through the public stock exchange. They are generally a riskier type of investment and aimed at exclusive groups of people, which Marco claimed to have access to. In an interview from 2021 played to the court on Friday, Marco said he mainly ran them through overseas operators. Whybrow told the court Marco added to his credibility by allowing investors to pull their money out at any time, but the generous returns his clients received meant they often rolled over their investments.
The Age
8 hours ago
- The Age
‘Private placements', property and cars: Inside WA's multimillion-dollar fraud trial
The first week of the trial of an alleged Perth-based fraudster heard his former clients claimed they had no idea he was hedging their investments with real estate and cars, rather than keeping the funds safe in a 'blocked bank account'. Private investor Chris Marco is on trial in West Australia's Supreme Court, facing 44 charges after allegedly defrauding investors of about $36.4 million. His former executive assistant, Linda Marissen, has been charged with 30 offences for her alleged role in the crimes. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The minimum investment to work with Marco was $100,000, and his clients included an environmental scientist and a Sydney-based insurance underwriter. In his opening statement, Prosecutor Steven Whybrow said Marco spent years developing credibility with his clients between 2011 and 2018, promising to invest their money in lucrative overseas investment structures called 'private placements'. Private placements are when a company raises money by selling shares, bonds, or securities to a select group of private investors, rather than through the public stock exchange. They are generally a riskier type of investment and aimed at exclusive groups of people, which Marco claimed to have access to. In an interview from 2021 played to the court on Friday, Marco said he mainly ran them through overseas operators. Whybrow told the court Marco added to his credibility by allowing investors to pull their money out at any time, but the generous returns his clients received meant they often rolled over their investments.
