Prosecutors in California say Vicky Kim from Palm Desert used a flagpole as a deadly weapon in the alleged murder of her husband.
Vicky Kyung Mi Kim now faces a potential sentence of life in prison.
Husband Found Dead
Deputies were dispatched to the 35000 block of Gateway Drive in Palm Desert around 9:47 a.m. on September 4. According to a press release by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, officers responded to an “unknown trouble” call.
They arrived at the scene and found a man with “traumatic injuries consistent with a physical assault.” Emergency workers pronounced him dead at the scene. Prosecutors later identified him in a criminal complaint as R. Kaufman.
The Arrest
A report by KESQ covered a neighbor’s account, who spoke about the victim, saying, “he could barely walk,” noting she had helped the bleeding man just days before his wife allegedly killed him.
She added that he said his name was “Rich,” and “He was so feeble, I had to use all my weight to get him up.”
Deputies arrested Vicky Kim without incident. She was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, while investigators from the Central Homicide Unit and Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station continued iinvestigating the circumstances surrounding Kaufman’s death.
A report by The Guardian detailed the court filings, noting that the felony complaint alleges “the deadly weapon was a flagpole” and that Kim “personally inflicted great bodily injury.”
A History Of Domestic Violence
The alleged fatal attack wasn’t the first time police got involved with the couple. District attorney officials revealed that Kim was charged with a felony back in January.
Prosecutors managed to get protective orders put in place. At the time, she was also facing four pending misdemeanor cases. All four stemmed from separate alleged domestic violence incidents and violations of previous protective orders.
The prosecution wanted to push forward with the charges. According to District Attorney spokesperson Molly Smith, prosecutors intended to pursue the felony charge and actively opposed what happened next in court.
Judge Terminates Protective Orders
KESQ’s report noted that “Deputies arrested Vicky Kim six times between September 2025 and January 2026, and prosecutors filed five domestic violence cases against her in that time,”
A judge decided to resolve the open cases as misdemeanors instead. The judge released Kim and terminated the protective orders.
Prosecutors had asked the court to hold Kim without bail. However, her bail has since been set at $10 million as she faces the murder charge.
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