The Last Time We Saw Her. Robert Falcon Scott

stated that he knew from his experience and training that an individual who was into fetishes would often take panties, bras, lingerie, or stockings. Baltzell wrote: A person who does burglary to obtain undergarments to satisfy an arousal is known as a fetish burglar and is often considered extremely dangerous because in many circumstances the fetish burglary is a prelude to a sexual assault or lust murder.

      It was this combination of burglary and female intimate items that made Sung Koo Kim appear potentially dangerous in Detective Baltzell’s eyes. He wanted something done about the situation before a serious crime occurred. Baltzell put in his search warrant request to a judge and was eventually given the go-ahead to search and seize items at the Kim household. Within the warrant Baltzell was to look for the specific items mentioned as missing by the George Fox University female students.

      When the Tigard police searched Kim’s residence on May 13, they were stunned to find that he was in possession of more than one thousand pairs of women’s undergarments. This evidence was collected and Sung Koo Kim was arrested on burglary charges. At that point it was a fairly minor crime.

      Things were about to change, however. Once the news about Brooke Wilberger broke, the Tigard PD sent information on to the Oregon State Police, which then contacted the Corvallis Police Department. Lieutenant Phillip “Phil” Zerzan, of the Oregon State University Police Department (OSUPD), was also contacted about Kim. Zerzan informed CPD on May 28 that one of the undergarments in Kim’s possession was a pair of underwear with a label that said, Sackett Hall, OSU, First Floor. The underwear had belonged to a young female student named Stacey. She had noticed that some of her underwear had gone missing from the laundry room earlier, so that’s why she had made a tag about Sackett Hall. And then those underwear had been stolen as well.

      On May 28, Trooper Timothy Gallagher, of the OSP, contacted Stacey. She told him that a month previously six pairs of her panties had disappeared from a laundry load. Her roomate, Ashley, also had some underwear that disappeared. Detective Todd Baltzell contacted Stacey and Ashley, and they were able to identify underwear that Sung Koo Kim had possessed.

      Trooper Gallagher then spoke with Detective Kenneth Pecyna, of the OSP. Pecyna had been a detective since 1986 and had investigated major crimes, including murders, rapes, sexual assaults, and burglaries. He informed Gallagher that in cases involving the theft of women’s underwear, many times trace evidence on the underwear could identify the owner. This evidence included hairs, body fluids, and secretions. All of these could be traced by DNA back to the rightful owner.

      Detective Pecyna also told Gallagher that women’s undergarment thieves would often clandestinely observe their victims by use of cameras, video recorders, and cell phones that had camera capability. These images were often downloaded to a computer so that the thief could then connect the victim to the undergarments he had stolen. These types of photos were also stored on CDs and DVDs. It was a way of keeping a permanent record of items and victims, and also of reliving the scenario.

      Gallagher learned from Detective Eric Ronning, of the NPD, that Kim’s computer had been seized during the implementation of the search warrant. Gallagher also learned that other computers in the house had not been seized, nor had items in Sung Koo Kim’s Honda.

      Gallagher learned one more thing as well. Law enforcement had seized receipts, tickets, credit card information, and ATM slips, and a few of these proved that Kim had taken trips to Corvallis. Gallagher noted on one report that in his experience a person often would keep more receipts in his vehicle, especially in the glove box. Also, trace evidence might be found in a vehicle as well.

      With that in mind Gallagher wrote up a probable-cause report, asking for a new search warrant on Sung Koo Kim’s residence: I believe that evidence of the crime of burglary in the second degree and thefts will be found at Sung Koo Kim’s residence in Tigard, Oregon. Also evidence may be found in a vehicle; to wit, a 1991 black Honda Accord.

      Then there was one more chilling notation. Gallagher wrote, Detective Ronning indicates that when they executed their search warrant, Mr. Kim had substantial rifles and pistols, all of which were loaded and ready for immediate use. Gallagher said that based on that, he requested a nighttime search and seizure by officers, because Kim might either be asleep or very drowsy. This might aid in keeping the officers safe during a raid upon the house.

      In the early-morning hours of Saturday, May 29, 2004, the search and seizure in Tigard took place, and it wasn’t by just a few uniformed officers going in with a search warrant. An entire SWAT team descended upon the Kim residence and arrested Sung Koo Kim. His parents and sister, who had no idea what was taking place or why, were absolutely traumatized. Luckily for everyone involved, Sung Koo Kim did not pick up any weapons before being handcuffed and taken to jail.

      The actual items seized were as varied as the list was long. From the top shelf of the entertainment room, a box full of bras and panties was seized. From the top of a refrigerator, the officers got a digital camera, and from a bedroom table, a laptop computer. From Sung Koo Kim’s parents’ room, they seized a computer tower. Other items included a black spiral notebook, twenty CDs, seven floppy disks, three commercially packaged videos, twenty-three unmarked videotapes, a cell phone with a camera, and a Sony Handycam. There were various receipts seized as well from all over the house, and a pair of female panties taken from an outdoor garbage can. Two items were of particular interest. One was a book, The Beginners’ Guide to Lock Picking; the other was what appeared to be a bloodstain on the garage floor.

      Sung Koo Kim’s vehicle also came in for search and seizure. The officers took the floor mats and the mat from the trunk as well. A screwdriver was taken, various gas receipts, a pair of scissors, and a blue surgical mask. Prints were lifted from the dashboard, seat backs, and side windows.

      The Salem Statesman Journal soon began tying Kim’s arrest to the Brooke Wilberger case. In headlines the newspaper proclaimed POLICE ARREST MAN IN 19-YEAR-OLD’S DISAPPEARANCE. Beneath the headline was a photo of Brooke Wilberger. The Statesman Journal also related that a SWAT team consisting of the Oregon State Police, Newberg PD, and Corvallis PD were in on the early-morning arrest of Kim. And yet it was with a note of caution that CPD lieutenant Ron Noble stated that Kim was “only a person of interest” in Brooke’s disappearance, and not under arrest for that incident.

      After Sung Koo Kim was arrested, he didn’t stay behind bars for very long. Even though his bail was set at $1.5 million, his parents were able to raise over $150,000 in bond money to spring him from jail. This covered the bail amount for the charges in Yamhill and Benton counties. Kim was now free until trial.

      Sung Koo Kim obtained an attorney, Michael Greenlick, of Portland. Because of the possible ties to the Brooke Wilberger abduction, there were plenty of reporters interested in Kim now. Greenlick told the media that Sung Koo Kim had been born in South Korea, but he had moved with his family to the United States when he was very young. Greenlick added, “Mr. Kim had nothing to do with Brooke Wilberger’s disappearance. He is just a target of police speculation.”

      Michael Greenlick was not Kim’s attorney for long, however. Since Kim’s parents, Joo and Dong, had spent so much money on bailing him out of jail, they didn’t have enough now to pay for Greenlick’s future attorney fees. Sung Koo Kim had to take on public defenders Janet Lee Hoffman and Joseph O’Leary as his lawyers.

      When Sung Koo Kim made his first court appearance at the arraignment in Benton County for the alleged theft of women’s underwear at Oregon State University, he pled not guilty to all charges. His new attorneys told reporters after the arraignment that there was no evidence that Kim was even in Corvallis when Brooke Wilberger disappeared.

      Lieutenant Ron Noble had something to say about this as well. He told the media that “Kim is a significant person of interest in the Brooke Wilberger case. We haven’t been able to verify yet, his alibi.”

      Benton County chief deputy district attorney (DDA) John Haroldson weighed in on this issue as well. He said, “There have been a number of people who have drawn the interest of investigators, and certainly media interest. We really have to be careful not to overreact.”

      Sung Koo Kim’s days of freedom were very short-lived. Four days after