A taekwondo instructor has been arrested by homicide detectives after a mother, her estranged husband and their young son were found allegedly stabbed to death.
Kwang Kyung Yoo was arrested early on Wednesday morning, about 24 hours after arriving at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital bloodied and suffering knife wounds.
The arrest came after detectives questioned Yoo, the owner of Lion’s Taekwondo, about the deaths of Min Cho, Steven Cho and their seven-year-old son Benjamin.
Charges are yet to be laid against Yoo, who remains in hospital under police guard after undergoing emergency surgery for wounds to his hand and arm.
The bodies of Ms Cho and her son were found inside Mr Yoo’s taekwondo studio in North Paramatta in western Sydney on Tuesday, just two hours after Mr Cho was found dead in their nearby townhouse in Baulkham Hills.
Detectives are believed to be probing the possibility of a love triangle and whether Mr Yoo was romantically linked to Ms Cho and if their relationship had recently soured.
Min Cho (left), her estranged husband Steven (right) and their son Benjamin were all found dead on Tuesday
Master Lion Yoo (pictured) was arrested by homicide detectives early on Wednesday morning. Charges are yet to be laid against the taekwondo instructor
Police believe the three deaths likely occurred within a five-hour period between 8pm Tuesday night and 1am Tuesday morning.
It’s understood that Mr Yoo presented himself to Westmead Hospital early Tuesday morning bloodied and suffering from serious injuries.
Hospital staff called in police to investigate his injuries after Mr Yoo told them that he was injured at his taekwondo studio on Monday night.
The body of Ms Cho’s estranged husband Stephen was found in the kitchen of his Watkins Road townhouse in Baulkham Hills.
He had also been allegedly stabbed.
Mr Cho’s mother was said to have arrived at the home earlier in the day to be told by police that ‘her entire family was wiped out’.
Steven Cho (right) worked for construction firm Richard Crookes while his wife Min Cho (left) worked at several businesses in recent years. They bought their home in 2016.
Homicide detectives have launched an investigation after a woman and a child were found dead in Sydney’s west and a man’s body was discovered 5km away in Baulkham Hills
Benjamin had just started year 2 at Winston Hills Public School.
Horrified parents revealed that they were sent a ‘weird text’ by the Lion’s Taekwondo studio on Tuesday morning.
The message said lessons were cancelled because the academy’s chief instructor, Master Lion Yoo, was in hospital.
‘Due to injuries resulting from a car accident this morning, Master is currently in the hospital,’ it said. ‘Therefore, Taekwondo classes will be temporarily suspended starting today.’
One mother admitted 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’.
Master Lion, in his late 30s, is believed to be married with a young son, Kai. Parents of his students described him as a ‘lovely man who is very quiet and timid’.
‘How he’s connected to all this is what troubles me,’ added one mother.
The crime scene at Lion’s Academy at Daking Street has been sealed off, with firefighters covering up the windows of the martial arts studio.
A crime scene at Lion’s Taekwondo Academy in Daking Street, Parramatta, has also been sealed off, with firefighters covering up the windows of the martial arts studio
Mr Cho’s mother was said to have arrived at the home earlier in the day to be told by police that ‘her entire family was wiped out’ (Steven and Min Cho and son Benjamin are pictured)
Horrified parents exclusively revealed to Daily Mail Australia how they were sent a ‘weird text’ by the Lion’s Taekwondo studio on Tuesday morning
Officers spent the day at the Baulkhams Hill home where Mr Cho as found dead on Tuesday
It’s understood the black plastic across all the windows facing onto the main street was put up to hide the grisly scene inside the studio from bystanders.
Forensic officers were also seen scouring an alleyway at the side of the academy building, where locals said they had been told a body had been found.
At the Baulkham Hills address, one detective raced out of a car and ran down the driveway at about 3.15pm, ducking under the police tape and into the crime scene.
The front window of the townhouse has also been smashed, with shattered glass sprayed on to the concrete outside.
State Crime Command Homicide Squad has now taken over the investigation, said a NSW Police statement.
