Prosecutors seek bail increase for the accused underwear thief

HILLSBORO — Prosecutors in Washington County have asked a judge there to more than double the bail for Sung Koo Kim, the Tigard man accused of stealing women's underwear from college campuses and homes in four Oregon counties.

Their request came after a letter proposing a violent escape plan and dozens of defaced photos of scantily clad women were found in Kim's cell, lawyers said.

Prosecutors want the 31-year-old man's bail to be increased from $480,000 to $1.32 million.

Kim is charged in Washington County with possessing child pornography on a home computer, in addition to the underwear theft charges in Washington, Multnomah, Benton and Yamhill Counties.

According to a police report filed with the bail motion, a deputy at the Multnomah County Detention Center intercepted a letter that Kim gave to his family's attorney during a visit.

The letter outlined several ways Kim's father could help him escape, the jail report states.

"You have my rifles. They are better than anything the police has,'' Kim wrote, describing how he is transported between various jails by two deputies.

Kim's mother, Dong Kim told The Oregonian that the escape plan was proof of her son's "delusional and deteriorating'' thinking, and that he needs mental health counseling, not imprisonment.

Police had also named Kim a suspect in the May, 2004 apparent abduction of 19-year-old Brooke Wilberger near the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis.

But in February, the Wilberger task force removed Kim's name from its "persons of interest'' list.

About that time, judges in Washington and Multnomah counties reduced Kim's bail, which currently totals just less than $5 million.

Last month, Kim's attorney Des Connall of Portland, cited an undisclosed ethical issue, and filed motions to withdraw from the highly publicized set of cases.

It would be Sung Koo Kim's fourth lawyer in a year.