WA - Richard, 47, & Terri Kim, 46, murdered, Mount Spokane, 5 Dec 2006

I haven't been online much in the last couple days and have only heard bits and pieces of this story in the news out of Spokane, WA.

Krem.com has lots of video on this story.

Bryan Kim is facing two charges of 2nd degree Murder in the death of his parents, Teresa and Richard Kim. I have been hearing in the news that Bryan is Bi-Polar, as if that's the reason that he (allegedly) murdered his parents. From what I understand from reading here at websleuths in the past, being bi-polar would not cause one to commit murder.

According to the autopsy, Bryan's father was stabbed to death and his mother was strangled.

From news reports I've seen, Bryan's mother was always talking about Bryan, just as any caring and loving mother does about their child.

If he indeed did it, I wonder what made this teenager murder his parents!?


Here is Bryan's MySpace page.

http://www.krem.com/topstories/stories/krem2_120606_doublemurder__.1d64777.html

Spokane Public School says one of the victims, Teresa Kim, didn't show up to work as a math teacher at Rogers High School in Spokane on Wednesday.

Deputy Mark Smoldt was called to make a welfare check on the rural home in the 18500 block of East Eagle Ridge Lane .

Smoldt found a bloody cell phone in the driveway of the Kim's home and blood on the home's floors that was visible from outside.

He went into the house and nearby shed and found the bodies believed to be those of Teresa Kim and her husband Richard Kim. Detectives had not confirmed those identities as of 7:30 p.m Wednesday.

Deputies picked up Bryan Kim at Mount Spokane High School Wednesday for questioning and later arrested him. Kim is a senior at Mt. Spokane High School.

--> more at link
================

ETA: Snippets from today's Fox News story, Wash. Son Arrested After Mom and Dad Found Stabbed to Death, which gives a little insight into *why* this double murder may have occured.


SPOKANE, Wash.*—* An 18-year-old boy who had been ordered to move out of his family's home is accused of killing his parents, dumping their bodies into a scoop loader, then heading off to school, according to court documents.

~snip~

That ultimatum and an argument over Internet usage preceded the slayings Tuesday night or early Wednesday, according to court papers.

~snip~

"Go on with what you're gonna do. Book me," Bryan Kim reportedly told deputies when he was arrested. "I'm gonna cry myself to sleep later. Let's get this going."

Detectives told Spokane County District Judge Richard White that Bryan Kim had prior arrests for assault, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment dating to 2002. His parents were listed as the victims in each of the cases, according to records.

--> read in entirety at link above

Hi Liz,:blowkiss:

Thank-you for taking the time to post this thread.

Respectfully dark_shadows

Here is Steve Huff's entry on this case.

Hi Dark_Shadows! You're so welcome.

And Kat, thanks for the link!

Bryan seems to have had severe problems since at least first grade. There's got to be more wrong than mental illness because I thought all mental illness could be controlled with the proper medication.

txsvicki said:

Bryan seems to have had severe problems since at least first grade. There's got to be more wrong than mental illness because I thought all mental illness could be controlled with the proper medication.

Click to expand...

I don't believe that they've found a way to control ALL mental illness.

I've got a very dear friend who is bipolar, and every once in a while--twice in the 15 years I've known her, the meds. she takes become suddenly ineffective. Then a long search is on while she tries different meds. to find one that will control her symptoms. One time they had her on a cocktail of medications which caused her to have fantasies about using the knives in her kitchen against her family members. Thank God she still had enough control to pick up the phone and call her doctor!

As some of you who read in the Jury Room section may know, I am experiencing mental illness up close and personal with my 15 year old son. He IS controlled right now, to a certain degree, with medications. (Not sure how long the control will last because we've been here before and lost it.) Just a couple of weeks ago, he set his shoes on fire while wearing them because he did not want to live anymore. He has cut himself and burned himself and has experienced more confusion, anger and depression than I would wish on my worst enemy. Even now, when I tell you his illness is "controlled" he is not like you and me. He cannot think completely rationally yet. IF my boy were to do something harmful to someone else, I'd be so sad if he was treated the same as someone who had perfect mental health.

This poor little family. I feel so sorry for all of them, even the boy.

This young man has had criminal offences in the past. His parents were the victims of those offences, assault, kidnapping, unlawful inprisonment.

They had ordered him to move out of the home. So he killed them. Left for school, picked up his girlfriend, took 1K out of his Dad's bank account.

Then he was arrested at school.

On Tuesday or Wednesday, the parents and son had an "argument" over internet usage. That argument and the ultimatum was before the killings.

So somehow I tend to believe that this was done in reaction to the events and revenge against his parents. Bi-polar does not make one kill ones parents.

CyberLaw said:

(...) Bi-polar does not make one kill ones parents.

Click to expand...

THANK YOU. I hate it when people try and use the "bipolar excuse." I've blogged about it many times. Glad when others mirror my own feelings on the subject.

Steve/Mr. A.

misterallgood said:

THANK YOU. I hate it when people try and use the "bipolar excuse." I've blogged about it many times. Glad when others mirror my own feelings on the subject.

Steve/Mr. A.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more! I am bipolar, but I have never killed anyone. And it makes me mad when others use that as an excuse for murder.

misterallgood said:

THANK YOU. I hate it when people try and use the "bipolar excuse." I've blogged about it many times. Glad when others mirror my own feelings on the subject.

Steve/Mr. A.

Click to expand...

I used to think exactly the same as you. Then I met my best friend, who suffers from bipolar, and my views softened considerably. My brother married a woman who is bipolar, and I learned a little more. Now, mental illness hit MY home, and my views are changing once again. I am watching my son struggle to regain himself, and his struggle is intense and very, very sad to watch.

While I don't believe that mental illness is an "excuse" or "get out of jail free" card, I now understand that a person with an uncontrolled mental illness is as incapable of rational thought patterns as a two day old child is of hiking the Appalachian Trail on its own two feet.

It is important to remember, too, that there are degrees of mental illness. Some people are only slightly effected, others have their lives devastated. My friend's mania leads her to spend money. My SIL's are more week long rages. My son"s illness causes him to cut himself and set himself on fire, to burn himself with redhot sticks, etc. Each person's illness may lead them in a different direction, but I would no sooner punish my son for his mental illness than I would punish him if he caught chicken pox.

We ARE the sum total of our brain chemicals. Those chemicals determine so much of how we understand the world and interact with it. Brain health determines WHO we are, HOW we are, WHAT we do......

kgeaux said:

. . .We ARE the sum total of our brain chemicals. Those chemicals determine so much of how we understand the world and interact with it. Brain health determines WHO we are, HOW we are, WHAT we do......

Click to expand...

Well said.

I understand that people often feel that mental illness is used as an excuse to get out of facing consequences in trials and I believe there are evil people that will, and do, try just that thing but that does not mean that mental illness is not a huge factor in some crimes and if we ignore it because we are afraid of allowing the guilty to get by with something then we fail ourselves by not learning to be proactive in treating mental illnesses more effectively before they become the root cause for horrific crimes.

As long as treatment for certain dangerous conditions is not monitored and is left up to the ill individual to decide to discontinue treatment and still stay free we will see more and more of these crimes.

In my opinion we have to find a better way to balance personal freedoms with good proactive treatment of dangerously mentally ill individuals. I know we can't always spot the dangerous ones easily (and I know that most mentally ill are not dangerous) but there are many times when people have violent records already and spotting and treating those could be done.

kgeaux said:

I used to think exactly the same as you. Then I met my best friend, who suffers from bipolar, and my views softened considerably. My brother married a woman who is bipolar, and I learned a little more. Now, mental illness hit MY home, and my views are changing once again. I am watching my son struggle to regain himself, and his struggle is intense and very, very sad to watch.

While I don't believe that mental illness is an "excuse" or "get out of jail free" card, I now understand that a person with an uncontrolled mental illness is as incapable of rational thought patterns as a two day old child is of hiking the Appalachian Trail on its own two feet.

It is important to remember, too, that there are degrees of mental illness. Some people are only slightly effected, others have their lives devastated. My friend's mania leads her to spend money. My SIL's are more week long rages. My son"s illness causes him to cut himself and set himself on fire, to burn himself with redhot sticks, etc. Each person's illness may lead them in a different direction, but I would no sooner punish my son for his mental illness than I would punish him if he caught chicken pox.

We ARE the sum total of our brain chemicals. Those chemicals determine so much of how we understand the world and interact with it. Brain health determines WHO we are, HOW we are, WHAT we do......

Click to expand...

Yes, but I also think that manic depression/bipolar disorder is somewhat overdiagnosed and used as a catch all by the medical community. For those who are truly ill (like this kid was) I don't think it should be a "get out of jail free" card. I do think however it should be a "get lots and lots of medical care in a medical, not penal facility" card. It doesn't excuse what happened, but I do see that manic depression can certainly exacerbate things. Especially since he was a kid, and had raging hormones on top of it.

FTR, I'm bipolar too. I was a rapid cycler as a teen, I am not now. I think he still had *some* choice in what he did, but his illness and age exacerbated things, and maybe he didn't see that he had a choice. I hope that he will get the counseling he needs, and that maybe he can go on to be a contributor to society.

It's the teenage years that are hell for manic depressives especially. If they can make it through the teenage/young adult phase they can get strong enough to choose wisely. Whether they ever go on to do so is a matter of several factors, having a good support system, good counseling/medicinal therapy, and personal fortitude/integrity can tilt the scales in their favor. There are some who just don't manage to grow though, despite having support and excellent medical care. (I am thinking of the spouse of my husband's best friend in this case. This person *won't* grow up and take personal responsiblity. They are using their illness as an excuse to sit and rot. They only lift a finger to give the appearance of progress when made to by Government action. They are malingering, willfully. They don't want to put the work into getting better, and have said as much.)

so a little off topIc, but does that kid really spell that horribly? His my space page is full of major misspellings. I wonder if he had a bit of a learning disorder?

Kgeaux, I'm so sorry that your son is going through this and you too. Seems like all the lay people hear is about medication and if only people would take it they would get better. We don't hear much about the people who are trying but have so much trouble getting better. I guess some of the teens who murder could be psychopaths, but I always feel sorry for them because they are just kids.

The memorial service is being held today for Richard and Terri Kim. It began at 4 pm, and is being held at Whitworth College.

May you rest in peace, Richard and Terri.

Meanwhile their son, Bryan, is being held on a $1 million bond.

docwho3 said:

Well said.

I understand that people often feel that mental illness is used as an excuse to get out of facing consequences in trials and I believe there are evil people that will, and do, try just that thing but that does not mean that mental illness is not a huge factor in some crimes and if we ignore it because we are afraid of allowing the guilty to get by with something then we fail ourselves by not learning to be proactive in treating mental illnesses more effectively before they become the root cause for horrific crimes.

As long as treatment for certain dangerous conditions is not monitored and is left up to the ill individual to decide to discontinue treatment and still stay free we will see more and more of these crimes.

In my opinion we have to find a better way to balance personal freedoms with good proactive treatment of dangerously mentally ill individuals. I know we can't always spot the dangerous ones easily (and I know that most mentally ill are not dangerous) but there are many times when people have violent records already and spotting and treating those could be done.

Click to expand...

Since the "least restrictive environment" rulings for treatment of psych disorders, it's been hard to do what you propose. That twilight space between rational thought processes and profoundly disordered ones has been eliminated as a trigger to institute care and now a person must be dangerously unable to live in the real world before action is taken, and only when someone poses, and it seems has been confirmed by actions, to be a risk to someone else are they treated. Unfortunately, most people with disorders of thought and emotion on the severe end will not voluntarily allow others to help them.

Se this synopsis from the World Health Organization about how they feel legislation should be directed:

MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATION - A NECESSARY REQUIREMENT.

General principles for mental health legislation to protect the rights of the mentally ill include:
• Respect for individuals and their social, cultural, ethnic, religious and philosophical values.

• Individuals' needs taken fully into account. Individual's need for health and social care must be assessed thoroughly. In particular, it is important to ensure that the views of an individual (and his or her carers) are considered. For this to happen, there must be close liaison between health, housing and social care services.

• Care and treatment provided in the least restrictive environment. In order to uphold this principle, legislation should be framed so that involuntary (formal) hospital admission is a last resort. This can be achieved through: clearly defined grounds for detention; procedural safeguards when the power to detain is used; an obligation to discharge when grounds for detention are no longer met; an independent review of the decision to detain.

• Provision of care and treatment aimed at promoting each individual's self- determination and personal responsibility. It is vital that individuals are given the opportunity to exercise choice and make decisions about their own care and treatment. Legislation should aim to ensure that: treatment can be imposed only in strictly limited and clearly defined circumstances and must be the least restrictive alternative; where individuals are unable to make decisions for themselves, steps are taken to find out their wishes and feelings; clear information on treatment and detention is readily available; appropriate provisions for confidentiality are in force.

• Provision of care and treatment aimed at achieving the individual's own highest attainable level of health and well-being. In addition, to issues of quality and continuity of care, this principle addresses the question of a "right" to treatment. It can also cover more general issues such as the requirement that the individual should be cared for properly in a safe environment and subject only to restrictions for reasons of his or her health or safety, or the safety of others. In this regard: there should be no restrictions on an individual's contact with friends and family, except in rare and clearly defined circumstances; stringent safeguards from abuse, exploitation and neglect should be in place.

Not much emphasis here on recognition and treatment, nor on minimizing impact on others. There is a profoundly unbalanced concern for the rights of the mentally ill over the rights of others, who then become victims. Have we heard this anywhere before??

You're right that we can fail the mentally ill and ourselves by misguided concerns for their rights over the rights of others and subsequent treatment inaction as by zealous and confining treatment over-reaction.

01/12/07 AP

SPOKANE An 18-year-old high-school student accused of killing his parents may face the death penalty if convicted.

Bryan P. Kim originally was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the Dec. 6 slayings of Richard and Terri Kim, who lived near Mount Spokane. On Wednesday, the charges were amended to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, a charge that can carry the death penalty.

-> more at link:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003521776_spokane12e.html

From the article:

"Prosecutors are expected to argue the step of combining two zip ties would be enough to show premeditation"

Hmmm, hello?? Freaking DUH! Like lying in wait in the garage for her to return home after murdering the father doesn't all by itself qualify for premeditation. That having been said, I don't agree with the death penalty in this case. Kid's too young and has mental issues.

Jeana (DP) said:

From the article:

"Prosecutors are expected to argue the step of combining two zip ties would be enough to show premeditation"

Hmmm, hello?? Freaking DUH! Like lying in wait in the garage for her to return home after murdering the father doesn't all by itself qualify for premeditation. That having been said, I don't agree with the death penalty in this case. Kid's too young and has mental issues.

Click to expand...

Yeah really, Jeana!

I seriously doubt Bryan will receive the death penalty, if convicted. Although I'm not quite sure he doesn't deserve it.