Dongwook Ko's IU stabbing case has a new judge, a new prosecutor and a new court date
There's a new judge and a new prosecutor in the 2019 case of a teenager convicted of stabbing a girl at an IU music camp, then charged with plotting to maim and kill more than a dozen people he held responsible for his plight.
Dongwook "Mikey" Ko, who will turn 20 next month, was 17 when the assault at Indiana University's Summer Strings Academy happened in Bloomington.
According to police accounts and court records, Ko lured the girl from a private practice room, wrestled her to the floor and cut her multiple times with a pocket knife. The two knew one another from attending the camp the previous summer, but Ko was not a camper the summer the assault occurred.
Ko pleaded guilty to criminal confinement with a deadly weapon in exchange for the dismissal of related charges. The prosecutor's office asked for a 12-year jail term, but Monroe Circuit Judge Darcie Fawcett sentenced him instead to eight years on house arrest followed by two years on probation.
Coverage of sentencing: Dongwook Ko sentenced for attacking girl at Indiana University strings academy in 2019
Two days after the Nov. 3 sentencing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested Ko at the Kensington Park home where he lived with his mother. Ko's felony conviction canceled his visa and put the deportation process into motion.
He was taken to the Clay County Jail, an hour's drive from Bloomington, to be held until deportation to South Korea. Both Ko and his mother, who came to Bloomington as a graduate student in 2011, are South Korean citizens.
It was during his time awaiting transport to South Korea that police say Ko plotted with his cellmate a plan to torture and kill 14 people, ranging from girls he went to high school with to the stabbing victim's parents.
Coverage of conspiracy case: Bloomington teen charged with plotting to kill 14 people connected to his conviction
Ko's deportation remains on hold because of the conspiracy to commit murder charge.
The probable-cause affidavit in that case contends Ko told his cellmate he would arrange to post the man's $2,500 bail so he could get released, then would pay him $20,000 to commit the murders.
The 39-year-old man reported the scheme to police, and cooperated with gathering evidence documenting Ko's alleged plan.
A hearing on the status of Ko's Monroe County case and home-detention scheduled for Friday was canceled after defense attorney John Tompkins asked for a continuance. It's now set for Feb. 9, 10 days after Ko is scheduled to appear in a Clay County court to face the murder conspiracy allegation.
Court records show that on Jan. 7, Fawcett recused herself from the case; no reason was stated in the motion, which she signed. Ko's local case then was reassigned to Monroe Circuit Judge MaryEllen Diekhoff.
Monroe County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Kehr is now in charge of prosecuting the local case, replacing two lawyers from his office whose names appeared on Ko's hit list.
On Dec. 10, Ko had a hearing before Monroe Circuit Judge Valeri Haughton, who found there was probable cause that Ko had violated the terms of his home detention agreement when he was arrested over the alleged murder plot. If he is found guilty of violating the agreement, some or all of his original sentence could be changed to prison time.
The murder conspiracy charge in Clay County carries a possible prison term of 10 to 30 years and a fine up to $10,000.
Ko continues to be held without bail, and under an ICE detention order.
Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com, 812-331-4362 or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana University stabbing case has a new judge and prosecutor
