Alleged killer’s hearing is continued

PASADENA — A hearing was continued Friday in the case of a 45-year-old Glendale man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in December.

Soo Kim, who also goes by the name Brandon Kim, is charged with one count of murder. He is being held in a Los Angeles County jail on $1-million bail.

He is scheduled to appear Oct. 8 in Pasadena Superior Court.

Soo Kim was arrested on Dec. 17 in a Koreatown motel on suspicion of murder after police found 52-year-old Susan Kim dead on the floor of her kitchen in her Raymond Avenue home.

She and Soo Kim shared the home but were not married or related.

The couple, however, may have been going through a breakup, which led to a dispute, police said.

Soo Kim’s attorney, James Bisnow, could not be reached for comment.

Susan Kim’s daughter found her mother unresponsive on the kitchen floor just before 7 p.m.

Several neighbors called 9-1-1 after her daughter emerged from the house.

Details provided by Susan Kim’s daughter, along with investigative information, led police to a motel in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles.

Soo Kim was arrested about 6 a.m. at the motel on suspicion of murder, less than 12 hours after Susan Kim’s death.

Neighbors said Susan Kim had lived on the street for about 15 years and described her as quiet. Neighbors also described the street as quiet and safe.

Susan Kim owned a business in El Monte, and Soo Kim was unemployed, police said.

She had been assaulted, but it did not appear that a gun or a knife had been used in the attack, police said.

The alleged murder was the second of 2007 in Glendale, not counting traffic-related deaths, police said.

Grigor Grigoryan, 39, of Glendale also is in court on suspicion of strangling his 35-year-old ex-girlfriend, Yvette Hakopian.