Lawyers plan insanity defense in Kim trial
Defense attorneys for a Wilmette man charged with robbing and holding a Barrington Hills couple and their adult son at gunpoint confirmed Thursday they will pursue an insanity defense.
Kuhn Kim, 28, is on trial in Rolling Meadows for home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, burglary and other charges. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
Authorities say Kim entered the home of Toshio and Kyoko Ogino on Dec. 5, 2008, and demanded $2,000 from Kyoko Ogino. When she was unable to comply, prosecutors say Kim struck the now 64-year-old woman in the head and later terrorized her and her family.
Kyoko’s son Todd Ogino, 39, testified Thursday that he and his father returned to his parents’ home following a business meeting at about 10:30 a.m. that day to find the mudroom of the normally neat dwelling “essentially a mess” and the family’s 13-year-old dog locked in the laundry room.
“I realized something might be wrong,” said Ogino, “she’s never locked in any room.”
Ogino said he and his father Toshio Ogino called for Kyoko and went separately to look for her when she did not respond.
Todd Ogino said he was confronted by Kim in the master bedroom and ordered into the walk-in closet, where Ogino found his father kneeling with his hands tied and his mother sitting on the floor, also with her hands tied, bleeding from a head wound.
Todd Ogino testified that he is familiar with firearms, having owned them since he was 21. Yet, Ogino said he did not initially believe the gun Kim had was real.
“I asked him if he were kidding or joking. I wasn’t sure if it was a real gun,” said Ogino, who took a step toward Kim and realized Kim wasn’t kidding.
Kim barricaded the family members in the closet, said Todd Ogino, who escaped several minutes later through a window and ran to a neighbor’s house where he called 911.
Authorities have said that Kim left the home in the couple’s Jaguar, taking with him a laptop and an engraved pocket knife. He was arrested later that afternoon.
During cross examination, attorney Rick Beuke got Ogino to acknowledge that he told detectives that Kim — whom Ogino later identified in a photo lineup — appeared to be confused and disorganized at the time.
Kim made clicking noises during testimony and was chided by Cook County Judge Kay Hanlon, who warned Kim she would order him into the lock-up if he disrupted the proceedings or behaved disrespectfully.