A taekwondo instructor will be charged with three counts of murder after a mother, her husband and their young son were found allegedly stabbed to death.
Kwang Kyung Yoo, 49 – who owns Lion’s Taekwondo in North Parramatta and is also known as ‘Master Lion’ – arrived at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital on Monday night covered in blood with knife wounds to his chest, arms and stomach.
He told hospital staff that he was attacked in the carpark of a supermarket earlier that evening.
At about 10.30am on Tuesday, officers were called to a home in Baulkham Hills where the found the body of Steven Cho, 39, who had fatal stab wounds.
Two hours later, police found the bodies of his wife Min Cho, 41, and their seven-year-old son at the taekwondo studio.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Homicide Squad Commander Danny Doherty said Yoo allegedly attacked the mother and son after class on Monday.
He then took Ms Cho’s white BMW and drove it to her Baulkham Hills home where he allegedly killed her husband, before driving himself to hospital where he is now recovering from surgery.
Commander Doherty said Yoo has been arrested and will be charged with three counts of murder.
Kwang Kyung Yoo (pictured) was arrested by homicide detectives early on Wednesday morning. Charges are yet to be laid against the taekwondo instructor
Steven Cho (right) worked for construction firm Richard Crookes while his wife Min Cho (left) worked at several businesses in recent years. They bought their home in 2016
Detectives are believed to be probing the possibility of a love triangle and whether Yoo was romantically linked to Ms Cho, and if their relationship had recently soured.
Commander Doherty said police are still trying to establish the relationships between Yoo and the Cho family, adding it’s too early to determine a motive.
‘We’ll endeavor to get more information as the investigation progresses,’ he said.
‘However, what we do know and what we will allege is the 49-year-old is the only person responsible and we’ll allege that he is responsible for the murder of all three victims.’
Homicide detectives spent Tuesday tracking down the victim’s relatives in South Korea.
Police believe the three deaths likely occurred within a five-hour period between 8pm on Monday and 1am on Tuesday.
Mr Cho’s mother was said to have arrived at the home earlier in the day to be told by police that ‘her entire family was wiped out’.
Homicide detectives have launched an investigation after Min Cho and her seven-year-old son were found dead at North Parramatta, and the body of Ms Cho’s husband Stephen was discovered 5km away in Baulkham Hills
Horrified parents revealed that they were sent a ‘weird text’ by the Lion’s Taekwondo studio on Tuesday morning.
The message said lessons were cancelled because the academy’s chief instructor Yoo was in hospital.
‘Due to injuries resulting from a car accident this morning, Master is currently in the hospital,’ it said. ‘Therefore, Taekwondo classes will be temporarily suspended starting today.’
One mother admitted she knew it was ‘clearly not a car accident when I saw all the police outside the studio when I went to pick up the kids from school’.
Yoo, in his late 30s, is believed to be married with a young son, Kai. Parents of his students described him as a ‘lovely man who is very quiet and timid’.
‘How he’s connected to all this is what troubles me,’ said one mother.
The crime scene at Lion’s Taekwondo at Daking Street has been sealed off, with firefighters covering up the windows of the martial arts studio.
A crime scene at Lion’s Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy in Daking Street, North Parramatta, was sealed off, with firefighters covering street facing windows
Horrified parents exclusively revealed to Daily Mail Australia how they were sent a ‘weird text’ by the Lion’s Taekwondo studio on Tuesday morning
Officers spent the day at the Baulkham Hills home where Mr Cho was found dead on Tuesday
It’s understood the black plastic across all windows facing onto the main street was put up to hide the grisly scene inside the studio from bystanders.
Forensic officers were also seen scouring an alleyway at the side of the academy building, where locals said they had been told a body had been found.
At the Baulkham Hills address, one detective raced out of a car and ran down the driveway about 3.15pm, ducking under the police tape and into the crime scene.
The front window of the townhouse was also smashed, with shattered glass sprayed on to the concrete outside.
State Crime Command Homicide Squad has now taken over the investigation, NSW Police said in a statement.