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| Hyungseok Koh Northbrook Police Department |
Posted: Thursday, 16 July 2009 2:27PM
No bond reduction for man accused of killing son
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SKOKIE, Ill. (STNG) -- A judge denied a motion this week to lower the $5 million bond set for a north suburban man accused of fatally stabbing his son with a kitchen knife.
Paul Koh was found stabbed to death at his Northbrook home. CBS
Friends of Hyungseok Henry Koh, 56, of Northbrook hung their heads and sighed upon hearing he would remain incarcerated in the Cook County Jail for the alleged throat-cutting slaying of Paul Koh, 22, on April 16.
At the Skokie courthouse Tuesday, Circuit Judge Garritt Howard said Koh's taped confession "was a big part of the case" and refused to reduce bond.
Garritt also said he would not suppress Koh's taped statements during interrogations as requested by defense attorney Elliot Zinger.
Zinger told the packed courtroom after viewing the tape four times he did not see or hear a clear confession. "No reasonable person would believe that he confessed.
"Clearly, the confession was produced by the police officer's theory and imagination. Many times, the officer said to the confused Mr. Koh, 'Maybe this happened' or 'maybe that happened,' then screamed at him to confess," Zinger said after the hearing.
He said Koh was confused during questioning and needed his attorney, who was sitting outside the interrogation room, but was not asked inside.
Koh is a South Korean immigrant who gained citizenship in 1985, according to his daughter, Helen, who addressed the court as a character witness for her father.
She and other character witnesses said Koh's English was limited, and she often had to translate letters sent to him by the U.S. Postal Service in Palatine, where he worked for 20 years.
In court transcripts recorded April 17, the day Koh was charged with first-degree murder, a Cook County prosecutor told the court that he retrieved a kitchen knife after his son arrived home around 2 a.m. and pushed his father.
He then swung the knife at his son's neck. He further described grabbing his son from behind and cutting his neck with the knife. "Later on, the defendant, after being Mirandized in a videotaped interrogation, admitted that he had lied; in fact, he had been angry at his son for being out past his 11 p.m. curfew," the transcript stated.
Zinger argued his client's bond should be reduced to $500,000 because his U.S. citizenship had been established and he no longer posed a flight risk.
But Judge Howard said he believed Koh was a flight risk despite his citizen status.
Koh's next court appearance is 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 6 in Skokie.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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