Posted on 01/08/2014 6:36:05 AM PST by Drew68
On January 7, the capital murder trial began for a man charged with killing his neighbors after a prolonged dog-poop dispute. Issues of race, language, economics and age complicate the already unusual case.
Chung Kim, 76, allegedly shot and killed Michelle Jackson and Jaime Stafford on February 4, 2013, at Sable Ridge Condominiums in North Dallas. Jackson and Stafford, who were African-Americans in their 30s, lived in the unit above Kim and his wife. Kim, a South Korean immigrant, is using an interpreter for the trial and has previously stated he acted in self-defense.
It is well-documented that Jackson and Stafford frequently washed dog feces from their balcony onto Kim’s. The condo’s homeowners association received reports of dog-poop dumping dating back to August 2012.
Kim provided photos of his balcony’s poop-streaked windows, floors and walls to a variety of entities. Animal control eventually took the couple’s dog away, but the poop problems didn’t end. In December 2012, after Jackson gave birth to her fifth child, the couple began tossing dirty diapers over their balcony and onto the unit below them.
Kim and his wife owned their first floor condo and had lived there for more than a decade. Jackson was renting her unit through Section 8 housing on a month-to-month lease. In addition to voicing his complaints with the condo association, Kim reported the excrement issues to the Dallas Police Department, the City of Dallas Health and Human Services Department.
Condo maintenance supervisor Keith Morris said he was aware of the ongoing dispute between Kim and his neighbors. Morris said he had personally cleaned Kim’s balcony on at least two occasions, and once used a power washer to remove the poop.
Morris testified that he was picking up trash in the parking lot on February 4, 2013, when he heard Kim yelling, followed by two gunshots. Then, he saw Jackson’s body lying on the floor of her second-story balcony.
Assistant district attorney Herschel Woods asked Morris who fired the gun.
“I was in shock,” Morris said. “It was Mr. Kim.”
Morris testified that he took cover behind the building because he feared for his life. When he emerged, Morris said he saw Kim step over Jackson’s lifeless body on the balcony and enter her unit while firing his weapon.
Jackson’s boyfriend, Jaime Stafford, was shot and killed as he tried to flee his residence.
At the time of the murders, a grainy security video from the condo’s parking lot and pool area shows a shadowy figure appearing to move from Kim’s ground-floor unit to the one directly above him occupied by Jackson and Stafford. Jurors craned their necks and squinted to make out the video, which also shows a figure enter Kim’s black Lexus SUV minutes after the murders and drive away from the complex.
Forensic scientist David Walker Spence testified that Kim had significant gun-shot particles on his hands when tested the day of the murders.
“There’s no way of me knowing, based on this testing, if one individual fired a gun or was just in proximity to the gun,” Spence said.
Police recovered a black Glock 45 handgun from Kim’s SUV the day of the murder. It was loaded and placed underneath the driver’s seat. 45-caliber shells and casings were found at the scene of the crime.
Carlata Robinson, the condo’s HOA president, testified about the extent of the animal and baby feces on Kim’s property. She said the amount, location and frequency of the feces made it a health issue.
On January 31, 2013, more poop appeared on Kim’s balcony. This time, instead of being washed down from the balcony, it appeared to be piled up deliberately on Kim’s property.
“This issue has been ongoing for months,” Robinson wrote in an email the same day to the HOA board about Jackson and Stafford’s behavior. “Mr. Kim is about to reach his breaking point.”
Robinson had helped coordinate the couple’s eviction process, which was to begin February 1. Robinson testified that she never told Kim about the pending eviction. Three days later, Jackson and Stafford were dead.
“This is terrible tenant behavior,” Woods said. “It’s not the way neighbors are supposed to act … but is taking a Glock 45 and shooting people in the head a reasonable way to resolve a dispute?” he asked.
“No,” Robinson said.
Testimony continues January 8 in the 291st Criminal Court in Dallas.
Maybe you’ve never been in the situation he was.
He owned his home. Upon selling it, he must tell any prospective buyer that the neighbor upstairs throws feces onto the unit he is trying to sell. That takes a HUGE chunk off the value of your home.
I feel for Mr Kim.
Agreed.
Self defense. I am absolutely serious.
Agreed, although my personal feeling is mostly for the many children left behind. What happens to them? It would be easier to dismiss if she didn’t breed. Easier to dismiss this if there were no children involved.
I certainly sympathize. I would just beat them up.
Who Flung Doo? They tossed diapers? Not guilty.
On a side note, I watch Korean Tv shows. A commonly used phrase is, “Do you want to die? “. I wonder if Mr. Kim used that expression.
Dat was some expensive sh*t.
Black trumps all, even foreign yellow. Hate crime won’t fly here!
I say give Mr Kim a medal for ridding society of those two!
Where can I buy a FREE KIM ! T-Shirt?
That isn't easy in some sections of the country.
Were I on the jury, I’d vote to acquit. It’s one thing to have millions of people who do nothing their entire lives but eat and shit and reproduce (what Romney referred to as “the 47%). It’s quite another for that 47% to start dumping their shit on the property of the 47% who actually do something.
“Morris... saw Kim step over Jackson’s lifeless body on the balcony and enter her unit while firing his weapon.”
I love this visual, LOL!
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Glock: ready when you gotta take out the trash!
Well, the trial just started, we haven’t heard Mr Kim’s defense yet. The victims were being evicted, and it’s a fair bet they knew who was behind the eviction. Who knows what they may have done to threaten Mr Kim at that point? They don’t strike me as reasonable people.
I’ll wait and see what the rest of his story is.....
I missed that part. Yes, she should've told him. Of course, maybe there's privacy issues that prevented her.
‘Why this couple wasn’t kicked out of their month to month lease, I have no idea.”
***
Years ago, a friend of my Dad tried to kick out a welfare couple from an apartment building he owned. Apparently, where Section 8 or any other public assistance is involved, it’s very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to evict a tenant in this situation. A lot of red tape,government agencies are involved and there has to be an assortment of approvals necessary before such a tenant can be evicted. It took Dad’s friend more than 2 years and numerous legal battles before the tenants could be tossed out.
The landlord didn’t recoup months of unpaid rent and also had to spend big bucks getting the unit ready for the next tenants. The welfare couple had left the apartment a mess. After that, the landlord no longer accepted welfare tenants and eventually sold the building.
Yes, Sometimes!
This is not a dispute, this is a neighbor repeatedly & maliciously soiling another man's property with fecal matter. Nobody involved disputes that. Authorities will not stop this obviously illegal behavior & this man ultimately had to defend his property from what I would consider a vicious, potentially life threatening, repeated assault.
Maybe the children left behind will have a chance now. The life they were living with their disgusting parents would only train them to grow up and follow their parents example.
Some slobs just need killing! Free Mr. kim!
I'm sure it's boring staying home all day watching TV & playing video games.
Seems they entertained themselves by harassing their Asian neighbor. ...Racist!
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