A Korean-American woman in her 40s and her infant were found dead at home in Denver, Colorado, and police have arrested the husband, a university professor, on suspicion of first-degree murder.
According to the Denver Police Department, at about 6:54 a.m. on July 29, a caller reported that the victim, 44-year-old Seorin Kim, was bleeding from the head in the bedroom of a home on North Syracuse Street in Denver. The caller was Kim’s husband, 44-year-old Nicholas Myklebust, an associate professor of English at Regis University, a Catholic university in Denver.
Myklebust allegedly told police that he woke up after sleeping on the living room couch to find his wife and daughter unconscious in their bedroom.
“The husband stated that his baby was also not breathing at the time of the call,” Denver Police Department Officer Ernest Sandoval wrote in the arrest warrant request. “The baby died at 7:32 a.m. (approximately 30 minutes after the call).”
“The woman had signs of multiple blunt force assaults to her face and head,” Sandoval added.
The arrest warrant request noted that Myklebust had swollen knuckles, bruises, blood on his fists, and scratches on his chest and neck. Investigators said the wounds on his hands appeared to have been caused by hitting something, and bloody gloves were found in the dryer.
Myklebust is currently being held on a $5 million bail set by a Denver court. Denver District Attorney Anthony Santos had originally asked the court for $10 million bail, citing the brutality of the case.
In 2021, the couple’s first baby died under similar circumstances. “Kim was found with a skull fracture, bruises, and brutal wounds on her face, collarbone, hips, and shoulders,” said Santos. “Court records show that their first baby also died of a skull fracture when the baby was only three months old.”
The suspect’s attorney, Becca Butler-Dines, argued that “there were no criminal charges filed in connection with the death of the first child at the time.”
According to local residents, the area where the incident occurred is a peaceful neighborhood with no history of crime. Myklebust and Kim reportedly had little interaction with their neighbors.
“I usually just see him come out to take out the trash, but I didn’t know his wife and baby lived with him,” neighbor Steven Hathaway said in a phone interview with the Korea Daily on July 30. “When I think about the brutality of the incident, my heart races and I’m afraid.”
Video footage obtained from a neighbor shows Myklebust vomiting in front of emergency responders who arrived on the scene.
“Myklebust told investigators that the bruises were skin discoloration and the scratches were due to itching from psoriasis,” the Denver Post and local media outlets reported, citing police records.
“The husband said that his wife suffered from depression but that their relationship was very good,” the media reported.
Myklebust has been working at Regis University since 2014, specializing in 11th- and 15th-century poets and literature. “Regis University is deeply saddened to learn that a member of our faculty has been charged with a serious crime… In moments of such sorrow and confusion, we are reminded of our Jesuit values to offer compassion, and seek justice with love,” the university said in a statement on July 30.
BY YEOL JANG, JOONHO CHOI, YOONJAE JUNG, HOONSIK WOO
[jang.yeol@koreadaily.com, choi.joonho1@koreadaily.com, jung.yoonjae@koreadaily.com]
