Inset: Vicky Kyung Mi Kim (RSO). Background: The gated community where Kim allegedly killed her husband (Google Maps).
A 65-year-old California woman is accused of killing her husband after allegedly inflicting "traumatic injuries" on him using a flagpole inside their upscale gated community.
Vicky Kyung Mi Kim was taken into custody and charged with one count of murder in the slaying of her husband, authorities announced. The husband's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
According to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, deputies from the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station responded at 9:47 a.m. on Sept. 4 to a call from The Enclave, an upscale condominium development on Gateway Drive, regarding "unknown trouble."
Upon arriving, deputies found Kim's husband suffering from traumatic injuries "consistent with a physical assault." He was pronounced dead at the scene. Kim was identified as the suspect and taken into custody without incident.
Court records stated that Kim used a flagpole to inflict "great bodily harm" on her husband, SFGate reported.
The alleged killing came after a series of earlier criminal cases involving Kim and her husband, Palm Springs, California, ABC affiliate KESQ reported.
Court records obtained by the station show that Kim was arrested six times between September 2025 and January 2026. During that time, prosecutors brought five domestic-violence cases against her, charging her with a total of 10 criminal counts, including battery, corporal injury to a spouse, violations of a protective order, and elder abuse.
One of the corporal-injury allegations was initially filed as a felony in January. Court records reportedly show the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor the following day.
In that case, a sheriff's deputy said Kim's husband had a visible injury to his nose following an argument over finances and accusations of infidelity, according to KESQ. Kim reportedly admitted to deputies that she had struck her husband in the nose three times. The case resulted in a protective order requiring Kim to remain at least 100 yards away from her husband.
A spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office told the station that prosecutors had sought stronger protections for the man.
"In January of this year, our office charged Ms. Kim with a felony, obtained criminal protective orders, and intended to aggressively prosecute her for her crimes against her husband," the office wrote in an email to KESQ.
The DA's office also emphasized that it opposed the lenient way Kim's prior cases were resolved.
Deputy District Attorney Salas, who is prosecuting the murder case, said the earlier proceedings informed prosecutors' decision to seek protective orders and oppose the reduction of the felony charge.
"That is part of the reason why we requested protective orders, part of the reason why we objected to the resolution of the felony as a misdemeanor, because of the concern for this individual's safety in the future," he said, according to KESQ.
A neighbor also described seeing Kim's husband about a week before the killing.
She told KESQ that she and her roommate encountered an older man after he had fallen inside the gated community. She said he was so weak that she had to use her weight to help him stand.
"He was so feeble, I had to use all my weight to get him up," she reportedly said. "He could barely walk. My hand was covered in blood."
Kim's arraignment had been continued several times after the court repeatedly determined that she was not medically fit to appear. Her latest hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, and prosecutors were seeking to have her held without bail, per KESQ.
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