Man Sentenced For Estranged Wife's Death In Brookfield

BROOKFIELD, WI— A Franklin man was sentenced Oct. 16 in Waukesha County Circuit Court for strangling his estranged wife to death in 2018 while the two were separated and she was living in Brookfield.

Sunkeun Kim,30, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to court documents.

Kim was charged in November 2018 with first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of felony bail jumping for killing Madeline Kim. He was convicted on Oct. 9 after a 10-day trial.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to a condo on Brookfield Lake Drive on Nov. 17, 2018. The 911 caller reported that she came home and found her roommate, later identified as Madeline Kim, dead. The roommate said Kim was last seen on Nov. 15 when she left for the weekend.

A neighbor told police they saw Sunkeun Kim's SUV outside Madeline's condominium complex early in the morning Nov. 17, and heard "several loud thumps" coming from Madeline's condo overnight.

Online court records also showed Sunkeun Kim had previously been charged with strangling and beating Madeline on September 24, 2018. Sunkeun Kim was released on $15,000 bail and told to have no contact with her.

Court records also showed Madeline Kim had filed for divorce from Sunkeun on Oct. 29, 2018.

Sunkeun was under GPS monitoring after violating a no-contact condition of his bail. GPS data put him at Madeline's condo on Nov. 16, the complaint said.

The complaint said Sunkeun told caseworkers, "I need you to tell my attorney I did the homicide."

Sunkeun's phone showed searches for "shoehorn ankle bracelet trick" "dog murder" "if you are stabbed in the neck" and "Aurora hospital sexual assault," the complaint said.