CV Woman Accused Of Fatally Beating 77-Year-Old Spouse Due In Court

INDIO, CA — A Palm Desert woman accused of fatally beating her 77- year-old spouse with a curtain rod, possibly during a conflict over money, is slated to be arraigned Tuesday.

Vicky Kyung Mi Kim, 65, is charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon during a felony and inflicting great bodily injury for the death of Richard Kaufman of Palm Desert.

Kim, who is being held in lieu of $10 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, has been scheduled to appear before an Indio judge three times since her arrest more than a week ago. However, she has apparently been on a medical hold in the county correctional system and has not been formally arraigned. The type of treatment the inmate is receiving could not be immediately confirmed.

The defendant is set to appear at the Larson Justice Center on Tuesday morning, though she may end up a no-show again.

According to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Kim had perpetrated domestic violence on Kaufman multiple times. But despite the agency's objections, Judge John Ryan in January converted her felony domestic abuse charge to a misdemeanor and nullified protective orders "that prosecutors worked hard to obtain" for the victim's benefit.

Kim received an eight-day jail sentence -- which was waived by the judge -- and was not placed on probation afterward, according to court records.

A Riverside County Sheriff's Department bail-setting affidavit said that shortly before 10 a.m. on Sept. 3, patrol deputies were called to the Enclave Condominium complex at Gateway and Gerald Ford drives in Palm Desert to investigate reports of a dead person in one of the units.

When deputies arrived, they encountered the defendant out front, along with an unidentified witness, who told them Kim had asked for help, appearing disoriented and saying her "husband was `very sick' and `sleeping' after a fight occurred earlier that day," the declaration stated.

The deputies entered Kaufman's condo and spotted blood spatter in the hallway and living room, then found the victim's body "wrapped in a blanket or rug, with signs of slight decomposition and significant blood on his body and face," the affidavit said.

There were indications that someone had been inside the unit, trying to clean up, investigators said.

They confirmed a "history of domestic violence calls involving the couple, including three prior arrests ... with the decedent as the victim in all three cases," according to the affidavit.

Along with law enforcement, county Adult Protective Services agents had been detailed to probe the prior acts and check Kaufman's welfare due to his age, sheriff's officials said.

After detectives and forensic analysts were assigned the case, they identified a "large metal curtain rod" as the likely weapon, the affidavit said, adding that "a large circular piece attached to the end of the rod ... was covered in suspected blood."

"Investigators processed the (remains) and located multiple injuries consistent with blunt force trauma covering the body, face and head," according to the declaration. "A social worker briefed investigators that there were several financial fraud investigations referred to Adult Protective Services."

That stemmed from the fact that a bank had informed the county that "Kim was attempting to force the decedent to transfer large sums of money out of his account," the affidavit alleged.

Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase branches "reported incidents of potential financial elder abuse, involving Kim withdrawing money from the decedent's bank account," according to the sheriff's statement.

The length of time the couple were married was not disclosed.