Man Convicted of Killing Woman on Her Way to Church : Crime: Victim was kidnaped, raped and killed in Koreatown in 1991. Attorneys on both sides agree that Frank White will be incarcerated for life in prison or a mental institution.

An unemployed Los Angeles man who killed a woman on her way to church in Koreatown two years ago was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder.

An eight-woman, four-man Superior Court jury decided that Frank White, 36, murdered Shin Kim in the parking lot of Southern California Savings on Beverly Boulevard in the Mid-Wilshire District on Aug. 4, 1991.

The jury also found that White had kidnaped and raped the woman, and attorneys on both sides agreed that he will be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or to a mental institution for life.

Because White pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a second phase of the trial is scheduled to begin this afternoon to determine his mental condition at the time of the crimes.

On Aug. 4, 1991, Kim, 59, who lived in Koreatown with her husband and two sons, left home shortly after 5 a.m. to attend a prayer service at the Oriental Mission Church at 424 N. Western Ave.

As she waited for a bus at the corner of Beverly and Hobart boulevards, White grabbed the victim and dragged her across the street to the back of a bank, authorities said.

Two witnesses who identified White as the killer testified that they saw him hit and kick a “small Oriental woman.” Kim was beaten so severely that she did not regain consciousness and died that Aug. 5 at Cedars Sinai Hospital.

A deputy Los Angeles County coroner who performed an autopsy testified that Kim had multiple internal head injuries and a broken jaw and nose.

Though her Bible, glasses and shoes were found by passersby, firefighters who went to the scene had trouble locating her body because it was concealed behind heavy bushes.

The prosecution contends that White was sane when he killed the woman. “The defendant kidnaped, raped and beat Mrs. Kim to death,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Vivian Davidson. “And I am saying Frank White should be locked up for life in state prison.”

But Deputy Public Defender Mark Windham said the defendant has been hospitalized 25 times for mental problems. “He has been schizophrenic since he was 17 years old,” Windham said.

Since Kim’s murder, many Korean churches have taken precautions by providing transportation for older parishioners.