Victim in triple homicide left assets on Saipan

A petition was filed yesterday in Superior Court to preserve and distribute the assets of a Korean store manager who was among the victims of the triple homicide in San Antonio.

According to court papers, Yeon Young Mi, who was the manager of Memo Fashion, had left on Saipan bank accounts at the First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of Hawaii.

The 32-year-old Mi also owned a Hyundai car, a Ford van, and a Ford Explorer, the court petition indicated.

Jong Bong Won, through attorney Reynaldo O. Yana, filed the petition requesting the Superior Court to appoint him as the administrator of Mi’s estate.

Yana asserted that the estate should be immediately administered in order to collect and preserve the assets for those who shall appeal to have a legal right or interest.

Yana said Mi left a will.

The lawyer said that Mi’s husband, Yongki Kim, who is staying in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, has agreed to the appointment of Won as the estate’s administrator.

The couple’s two minor children are also in Malaysia, Yana said.

Investigators believe that robbery was the motive behind the triple homicide that happened on Feb. 15, 2006, at a residence located behind the Seventh-Day Adventist School.

Also killed were Hee Soo Kim, 63, and Lee Eun Jeong, 32. The three were Koreans.

Kim owned a bookstore and was the father-in-law of Mi.

Jeong was a tourist and a visitor of Mi. She arrived on Saipan on Feb. 10, 2006 and was scheduled to leave on Feb. 17, 2006, police said.

Police identified the suspect as Nan Guang Xi, 32, a Chinese, who was shot dead by a responding police officer.

Investigation revealed that victim Mi had collected money from the establishments that she managed the night prior to the killing.

Investigators recovered the empty money bag at the crime scene next to Mi.

Police said suspect Xi had a large amount of cash on his body. There were indications that the money had come from Mi, police said.

Xi had been on Saipan since 1996 and was employed at the Neo Fashion Garment Factory until it shut down operations in 2005.

Police said investigators believe the suspect was having financial difficulty and was seeking assistance to return back to China.

The autopsy indicated that all three victims sustained multiple stab wounds.

In addition, he said, Kim also suffered multiple trauma to the head.

The suspect sustained a single gunshot wound in the abdomen.

Traffic officer Hocog, who was in the vicinity conducting public education training for the students, heard the commotion and responded to the house.