Newark Man Charged With Murder For Death Of His Wife

NEWARK (CBS SF) -- A 39-year-old Newark man was charged Thursday with murder for the death of his wife at their home on Monday.

Hee Jin Kim was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court in Fremont Thursday afternoon for the death of his wife, 38-year-old Eunkyoung Han, who was found in their home in the 5600 block of McLaughlin Avenue around 8:30 p.m. Monday.

Newark police Detective Shannon Todd wrote in a probable cause statement that officers responded to the home after they got a call from a man who said he had been asked by Kim's mother in South Korea to check in on the couple.

Todd wrote that Kim's mother told the man she was concerned about Kim because she couldn't reach him and the last time she had spoken to him "he did not sound of his right mind, was not speaking logically and had said unusual things to her such as requesting she take his children and telling her he would not see her for some time."

When officers entered Kim's home, Kim was covered in blood, holding his infant child and had a red rope in his lap and another small child was found lying on the living room floor, Todd wrote.

Officers later found Han on the floor in a supine position beside the bed in the master bedroom with blood covering her face and her tongue sticking out, according to Todd.

Han was unresponsive and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene, Todd wrote.

The children were given medical examinations as a precaution and were taken into protective custody, police said.

Todd wrote that Kim told police in an interview on Tuesday that he and his wife had been arguing over two issues -- his wife had recently asked him for a divorce, and one of them wanted to move to Korea while the other didn't want to go.

There was an argument in which a bowl was broken and then Kim killed Han, Todd wrote.

According to Todd, Kim said, "I was stupid, she's really my treasure and we loved each other, too."

Kim told police that he had stabbed his wife in a panic, possibly in her neck and had also strangled her, saying, "I wanted it to be fast for her," Todd wrote.

According to Todd, Kim said that after Han died, he moved her body to the floor, put a blanket over her and put a plant across her chest because he wanted to have a funeral ceremony for her.

Todd wrote that she asked Kim if he planned on harming his children but he insisted that he did not.

The detective wrote that Kim became tearful and said the recent loss of his job and raising two babies "caused a stressful environment."

Kim said they had a happy family but "sometimes bad things happen," Todd wrote.

When Kim was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, he asked if he could go to the Newark Police Department and plead guilty but jail officials told him that's a function of the courts, Todd wrote.

A preliminary autopsy has determined that Han's death was a homicide caused by asphyxia from compression of her neck, but further information is pending a final report from the Alameda County coroner's bureau, according to Todd.