A mother and her toddler were allegedly stabbed to death inside a martial arts studio shortly before her ex-husband was murdered less than three miles away after an alleged love triangle went sour.
The bodies of Min Cho and her son Benjamin 7 were found inside the studio in North Parramatta, western Sydney, on Tuesday, two hours after her ex-husband Steven Cho was found dead in front of their nearby home in Baulkham Hills.
Taekwondo instructor Kwang Kyung Yoo remains in hospital under police guard after undergoing emergency surgery for knife wounds.
Homicide detectives spent the day tracking down the victim’s relatives as they tried to piece together how and why the trio died and how Mr. Yoo ended up seriously injured.
Police sources said it was too early to say whether the deaths were related to domestic violence, but detectives are believed to be investigating the possibility of a deadly love triangle.
As heartbreaking new details of the deaths emerged, police are investigating whether Yoo was romantically linked to Cho and whether their relationship had recently deteriorated.
Min Cho, her ex-husband Steven and their son Benjamin were found dead on Tuesday.
Detectives have not yet questioned Mr. Yoo as he spent much of Tuesday undergoing surgery.
Police have not yet filed charges.
Yoo, known in sporting circles as Master Lion, runs the Lion’s Taekwondo studio in North Parramatta, where Cho and Benjamin are believed to have been stabbed to death inside the gym before their bodies were dragged outside to an adjacent alley.
Taekwondo instructor Kwang Kyung Yoo is understood to have turned up at Westmead Hospital early Tuesday morning bloodied and with serious injuries.
It is understood Mr Yoo turned up at Westmead Hospital early on Tuesday morning bloodied and with serious injuries.
Hospital staff called police to investigate his injuries after Yoo told them he had been injured at his taekwondo studio on Monday night.
The body of Ms Cho’s estranged husband Stephen in the kitchen of their home on Watkins Rd in Baulkham Hills.
He would also have been stabbed.
Cho worked for construction company Richard Crookes while he worked at various companies in recent years. They bought his house in 2016.
Earlier on Tuesday, students at a martial arts academy received a disturbing text message moments before a woman and child were found fatally stabbed in a taekwondo studio and her dead husband’s body was discovered in a nearby home. .
Horrified parents exclusively revealed to Daily Mail Australia how Lion’s Taekwondo studio sent them a “strange text message” on Tuesday morning.
The message said that the lessons were canceled because the academy’s chief instructor, Master Lion Yoo, was in the hospital.
“Due to injuries resulting from a car accident this morning, Master is currently in the hospital,” he said. ‘Therefore, Taekwondo classes will be temporarily suspended starting today’
The crime scene at the Lion’s Taekwondo Academy in Daking Street, Parramatta, was also closed and firefighters covered the windows of the martial arts studio.
Homicide detectives launched an investigation after a woman and child were found dead in western Sydney and the body of a man was discovered 5km away in Baulkham Hills.
Master Lion Yoo (pictured) is under police guard at the hospital after appearing at the emergency department with non-life-threatening injuries around 1 a.m. Tuesday. he has since had surgery
A disconcerting text message from his academy sent later that morning announced that it is “no longer possible to pick him up at 3:10 pm for extracurricular activities.”
“For parents who requested after-school pickup, please pick up your children directly starting today,” he added. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
One mother admitted that 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.”
A third crime scene at the Lion’s Taekwondo Academy in Daking Street, Parramatta (pictured) has also been sealed, with firefighters covering the windows of the martial arts studio.
Master Leon, aged in his 30s, is believed to be married with a young son, Kai. The parents of his students described him as a “lovely man, very quiet and shy.”
“What worries me is how it is related to all this,” added one mother.
The crime scene at Lion’s Academy in Daking Street has been sealed and firefighters covered the windows of the martial arts studio.
It is understood the black plastic covering all the windows facing the main street was put up to hide the grisly scene inside the studio from passers-by.
The cordoned off crime scene on a normally quiet street shocked nearby business owners.
“Other than a few drunks from the nearby pub from time to time, that’s all,” one told the Daily Telegraph.
“We had seen all the police suddenly appear and saw a (news) alert on our phones about a body being found in an alley.”
Black plastic was used on all of the martial arts studio’s windows facing the main street (pictured) to hide the spooky scene inside the studio from passersby.
Inside the martial arts studio in Sydney’s west where a woman in her 40s and a child were found dead on Tuesday morning.
Forensic officers were also seen canvassing an alley next to the academy building, where locals said they had been told a body had been found.
At the Baulkham Hills address, a detective ran from a car and ran down the driveway around 3:15 p.m., ducking under police tape and entering the crime scene.
The front window of the house was also shattered and broken glass fell onto the concrete outside.
The State Crime Command’s Homicide Team has taken over the investigation, a New South Wales Police statement said.
“At around 10.15am today, officers from Hills Police District were called to Watkins Road in Baulkham Hills following a report of welfare concerns,” a police spokesperson added.
‘Upon arrival, police located a deceased man, believed to be in his 30s, with life-threatening injuries.
‘At approximately 1:00 pm today, officers attached to the City of Parramatta Police Area Command located two more bodies, believed to be those of a woman, aged around 40, and a small child, in a sports center on Daking Street in North Parramatta.
‘Forensic police located and examined crime scenes at both locations, which are currently considered linked to each other.
‘Investigations are continuing to establish whether there are links to another stabbing that occurred yesterday in North Parramatta.
“Investigations continue.”
The studio on the normally quiet Daking Street in North Parramatta was the crime scene on Tuesday.
Forensic agents spent much of Tuesday examining the grim scene at the martial arts studio.
The front window was smashed at the Baulkham Hills home where the dead man’s body was found.
The woman and child were located at an address in North Parramatta, shortly after the man’s body was found 5km away in Baulkham Hills at around 11am (pictured).