Once again, a father with a history of domestic violence and death threats was somehow allowed access to the kids after the mother finally left him. The article does not clarify whether Dad's access was court-ordered, but it apparently was not stopped by the courts either. The results are all too depressing and familiar: two children burned to death.
Stop giving battering fathers custody/visitation rights. Dad is identified as DAE KWON YUN.
Why it took so long for Dad to get to court is not explained either.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2239451/Father-admits-killing-children-SUV-planned-murder-suicide-jumped-left-die.html#ixzz2HuShGHEU
Father admits killing his two children in SUV fire that he planned as murder-suicide... but jumped out and left them to die
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 17:51 EST, 27 November 2012 | UPDATED: 19:24 EST, 27 November 2012
Murderer: Dae Kwon Yun has pleaded guilty to killing his two children by setting alight his SUV in 2006
A father has pleaded guilty to murdering his two children after setting his SUV on fire in a murder-suicide attempt - before jumping out of the vehicle and leaving the youngsters to die.
Dae Kwon Yun, 61, will serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the horrific 2006 crime. Prosecutors said they would no longer seek the death penalty.
The sentence comes six years after Yun killed his children in Los Angeles' Garment District just two weeks after he separated from his wife of 13 years and a week after his clothing business closed.
Yun apparently doused the inside of his Toyota Sequoia with fuel before setting it on fire, with his 11-year-old daughter Ashley and 10-year-old son Alexander inside.
A witness, Nelson A. Calderon, testified in 2008 that he had see the father shouting at Ashley before forcing her into the back seat of the car, the Los Angeles Times reported.
When the vehicle caught alight, Calderon added that Yun dropped to the ground with his legs on fire and shouted for help, but never signaled to the children inside the car.
Firefighters found that Alexander's body was positioned inside the car in a way that suggested he was trying to open the door.
Yun, who suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face, hands and legs, is believed to have set the car alight in a murder-suicide bid after gathering debts from gambling and owing $100,000 in back taxes.
His wife, Sun Ok Ma, had left him a fortnight earlier before filing for divorce. She testified that he repeatedly beat her and threatened to kill her and burn down their home.
He had previously pleaded guilty in 2004 to beating Ma, and was sentenced to two years' probation.
As he appeared in court on Tuesday, Yun looked dishevelled and shuffled into court chained and handcuffed at the waist, the L.A. Times reported.
A sheriff's deputy told the judge his status had been changed to 'suicidal'.
He responded to the prosecutor's questions in a low voice through a Korean interpreter.
'He was always mad,' a fellow shop owner, Miriam Sandoval, said after the killings. 'He was one of those people who would never even smile at you.'