911 call reveals chilling plea for help, inquest hears

A frantic woman speaking broken English attempted to give her address to a 911 dispatcher and told her that someone was "trying to kill us," an inquest into a 2007 murder-suicide in a suburb of Victoria heard Wednesday.

The 911 call came from a million-dollar home on King George Terrace in Oak Bay where Victoria restaurant owner Peter Kyun Joon Lee took his own life after killing his wife, Sunny Park, his six-year-old son and his wife's parents on Sept. 4.

Jeff Dolan, the coroner presiding over the inquest, decided not play the audio of the call, deeming it "too graphic" for an open court.

The transcript of the call, starting at 3:06 a.m., records the words of an elderly woman, believed to be Park's mother, Kum Lea Chun.

'Oh, we just had a big fight … send a, a ambulance.' — Peter Lee, speaking to 911 dispatcher

"310 King… 310… 3… 3…," the caller says to the dispatcher.

"What's going on?" the dispatcher asks.

"King… Cres…

"… trying to kill us…" the caller says.

Christine Vincent, a Victoria police dispatcher, testified Wednesday she answered the emergency call from the woman. She said the caller was crying and begging for help.

Vincent began to sob as she told the inquest that in her seven years as a dispatcher she's never heard a scream that "made [her] skin crawl" as the caller's did.

The dispatcher attempted to find out what kind of trouble the elderly woman was in. She responded: "Come quick… Please, please… (crying)."

The phone line went dead after the caller screamed out "Go jo, go jo, go jo..." which is Korean for "Get out of here."

Another dispatcher, Jennifer Grey, called back, but it was Lee who answered.

"Oh, we just had a big fight," he told the dispatcher, according to the transcript.

"What's going on?" the dispatcher asked.

"We're all having a fight," Lee said.

"Who's having a fight?" the dispatcher asked again.

"Send a, a ambulance," Lee responded.

Grey told the inquest a woman could be heard screaming and moaning in the background during her conversation with Lee. She said she called the home 17 times after that, but only the voice mail answered.

Communication failures among 3 police forces

Wednesday's testimony is also aimed at providing information that will shed light on communications problems during the incident and the difficulties of having three separate police forces dealing with a violent, disturbing crime.

A series of calls between Oak Bay, Saanich and Victoria police were played at the court Wednesday. All three police departments responded to the 911 call and were on the crime scene.

It's clear from the audio there was confusion between the three police forces as to who was in charge of the operation.

At one point, an officer is heard saying to another: "This is ugly. It doesn't look like anyone's taking control at all."

Oak Bay police were delayed because they were transporting drunk teens to their families, the inquest heard.

Thirty-five minutes after the 911 call was made, a Saanich police officer was the first to enter the home. He found a broken window and muddy footprints on the floor.

Inside, the officer discovered two bodies — Park's parents — in the hallway. He then tried to enter a barricaded room, but the smell of propane drove him back. There was no sound from inside the room, and his supervisor told him to wait for the emergency response team.

During that time, the officers complained of major problems with cell phones and radios, the inquest heard. Police ended up waiting several hours before entering the barricaded room.

The inquest continues Thursday.