thedrifter
03-11-07, 11:07 AM
Former capt. gets 10 years for attempted murder
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 10, 2007 14:40:13 EST
FREEHOLD, N.J. — A judge has sentenced a Maryland woman to 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of her ex-boyfriend’s pregnant wife.
Cecilia Chen, 31, was sentenced March 9 after a jury found her guilty in December of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. She must serve 85 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.
Prosecutors said Chen, who has a medical degree, was completing a residency in psychiatry and was a captain in the Army, wanted to get back together with an ex-boyfriend after having a fight with her current boyfriend.
Prosecutors say Chen called John Kim, who she hadn’t talked with in five years. Kim told her that he was living in Ocean Township with his pregnant wife, and a few days later, on Jan. 26, 2005, Chen drove up to New Jersey from Silver Spring, Md.
During the drive, Chen stopped to call the Kim household and found out Helen Kim was home alone, prosecutors said. She then went to the house, told Helen Kim her car had broken down and asked to use a telephone and the bathroom.
Once she came back, Chen “goes over and attacks her [Helen Kim],” said Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Marc LeMieux.
Helen Kim was stabbed in the neck, head and chest, but was able to put up a fight, at which point Chen said she would hurt the baby, according to prosecutors.
“Then she runs away, jumps in her car and goes back to Maryland,” LeMieux said.
Helen Kim and her unborn child survived the attack.
Judge Bette E. Uhrmacher told Chen, who came to the United States from China with her parents, that she “epitomized, up until Jan. 26, 2005, the American dream,” during her sentencing.
“You have all these things going for you, and yet you committed an act that’s intolerable,” she said.
Chen, who denies that she attacked Helen Kim, wore her Army uniform during the trial but is no longer with the Army. Her attorney, Robert P. Ward, presented the court with her résumé for consideration. Chen could have been sentenced to as much as 20 years in prison.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 10, 2007 14:40:13 EST
FREEHOLD, N.J. — A judge has sentenced a Maryland woman to 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of her ex-boyfriend’s pregnant wife.
Cecilia Chen, 31, was sentenced March 9 after a jury found her guilty in December of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. She must serve 85 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.
Prosecutors said Chen, who has a medical degree, was completing a residency in psychiatry and was a captain in the Army, wanted to get back together with an ex-boyfriend after having a fight with her current boyfriend.
Prosecutors say Chen called John Kim, who she hadn’t talked with in five years. Kim told her that he was living in Ocean Township with his pregnant wife, and a few days later, on Jan. 26, 2005, Chen drove up to New Jersey from Silver Spring, Md.
During the drive, Chen stopped to call the Kim household and found out Helen Kim was home alone, prosecutors said. She then went to the house, told Helen Kim her car had broken down and asked to use a telephone and the bathroom.
Once she came back, Chen “goes over and attacks her [Helen Kim],” said Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Marc LeMieux.
Helen Kim was stabbed in the neck, head and chest, but was able to put up a fight, at which point Chen said she would hurt the baby, according to prosecutors.
“Then she runs away, jumps in her car and goes back to Maryland,” LeMieux said.
Helen Kim and her unborn child survived the attack.
Judge Bette E. Uhrmacher told Chen, who came to the United States from China with her parents, that she “epitomized, up until Jan. 26, 2005, the American dream,” during her sentencing.
“You have all these things going for you, and yet you committed an act that’s intolerable,” she said.
Chen, who denies that she attacked Helen Kim, wore her Army uniform during the trial but is no longer with the Army. Her attorney, Robert P. Ward, presented the court with her résumé for consideration. Chen could have been sentenced to as much as 20 years in prison.
Ellie