Inquest hears Victoria husband threatened to 'kill everybody'

A terrified woman told police her husband would kill her and her family if she divorced him, a coroner's inquest into a 2007 Victoria murder-suicide heard Monday.

"He would kill everything," Sunny Park said of her husband, Victoria restaurant owner Peter Kyun Joon Lee, in the videotaped police interview on July 31, which was played at the inquest on Monday.

Park was among five people found dead in what a coroner called a murder-suicide in Oak Bay, B.C., on Sept. 4, 2007. Lee took his own life after killing Park, his six-year-old son and his wife's parents in their suburban home.

Park told Victoria police she was worried her husband's anger, violence and his fixation with knives could eventually harm his family. Park also told the officer her husband always had a knife in his pocket and one in the car.

The interview took place on the day Park was injured after Lee purposely crashed the family Land Rover into a power pole. She said her husband had asked her to sit in the middle backseat so he could hold her hand.

Lee repeatedly asked her, "Are you sure you want a divorce, are you sure?" Park said on the tape. She then told the officer, "He said there is no point to live without you. I'll kill everybody." Lee then said "I'm sorry, Sunny" and drove their car into a power pole.

'He [Lee] was very sad …He tried to make everything smooth with Sunny.' — testimony by Lisa Yi, sister of Peter Lee

In the video, Park's nose was bandaged with white tape. A blanket covered her right arm, which was broken in the crash.

Lee was later charged with deliberately trying to hurt his wife in the crash. He was released on bail with conditions that included staying away from his wife and the family home.

In his videotaped interview with police, Lee acted defensive, with his arms crossed — not even wanting to give his name.

"What do you think should happen to somebody who intentionally hurt his wife by causing a motor vehicle accident?" Det.-Sgt. Scott McGregor asked Lee.

Lee denied causing the accident to purposely harm his wife and mumbled about getting legal advice.

McGregor told the coroner's jury on Monday he had no doubt Lee attempted to hurt or kill his wife in the crash but said he didn't think at the time Lee was a "homicidal maniac."

Lee was 'very generous, kind, very funny:' sister

Members of Lee's family left the courthouse while the video was being played. Lee's sister, Lisa Yi, testified earlier Monday her brother was a kind man who was distraught over the breakup of his marriage.

But she said she had never seen him behaving violently. He was "very generous, kind, very funny. He was really fun to be around," Yi said softly.

Yi, a businesswoman from suburban Vancouver, said her brother was the baby of the family, which included four sisters. She also said she sensed difficulties in the relationship between Lee and Park.

"He was very sad. He was nervous," she said. "He tried to make everything smooth with Sunny."

Yi said when Park's parents moved into the family home, it seemed that they were always interfering in the relationship.

"They pushed him to do that," she said through tears.