BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to five counts of murder in the samurai sword slayings and baseball bat beatings of his ex-wife, her two children, her boyfriend and a NASA engineer who was married to her cousin.
Jae-hwan Shim, 45, of Palmdale, entered the pleas after agreeing with prosecutors to testify truthfully against his best friend in the 2008 killings. In exchange, he’ll spend life in prison without chance of parole instead of facing a possible death sentence.
Shim, speaking through a Korean interpreter, said “I am guilty,” several times as the charges were read in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Jae-hwan Shim (Photo courtesy of L.A. Sheriff’s Department)
He admitted murdering Jenny Young Park, 34, along with her 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and also pleaded guilty to arson for setting their bodies ablaze on a bed in the desert home they shared with Park’s cousin in Quartz Hill, 60 miles north of Los Angeles.
Shim also acknowledged killing Park’s boyfriend, Si Young Yoon, 34, a tae kwon do instructor, and dumping his body in Mexico to make it look like he had committed the murders and fled.
Sheriff’s deputies were initially looking for Yoon in connection with the June 23 killings until Shim and Steve Kwon were caught in Mexico. Shim later gave authorities information that led to Yoon’s body, said Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman.
Shim also killed Joseph Ciganek, 60, who worked at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base and was married to Park’s cousin. Park and her daughter Jamie, 13, and son, Justin, 11, had moved into the Ciganeks’ home after she divorced Shim.
Silverman said the motive was anger and control.
“It’s a horrendous set of circumstances, one of the worst that I’ve seen,” Silverman said. “I don’t know how anything could be worse.”
Attorney Dan Kuperberg told reporters that the defense was motivated to settle the case after emotional family members of the victims urged a judge to speed up the trial last summer.
“Their pain was obvious and evident,” Kuperberg said, according to City News Service. “It affected all the lawyers. It affected Mr. Shim.”
Shim won’t be sentenced until after Kwon’s trial on five counts of murder and an arson charge. Kwon is not facing the death penalty but could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Kwon has pleaded not guilty and his trial has not been scheduled yet. He is due in court April 2.
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