At sentencing, Young An confronted her attacker and revealed the six disturbing words he said before the murder attempt: “Today, I’m going to kill you”.
She recounted begging him for mercy and pleading for him to think of their children.
Young An (left) was buried for 12 hours before managing to dig herself out.
She said she and her children still live in fear following the attack.
“After that day, my and my children’s life was crushed.
“I have to live my life with emotional trauma and health issues for the rest of my life.”
How she survived being buried alive
In court, it was detailed that during the attack, Young An managed to use her Apple watch to alert police and family that something was wrong.
“Dispatch advised they could hear muffled screaming and sounds of a struggle. Officers arrived and found the garage door to the residence open,” police wrote at the time.
“Shortly thereafter the children of the resident arrived home and told officers their mother and father were at the home when they left to go to the store about half an hour prior.
“Officers cleared the home and no one was located. There was used duct tape found in the home. It is believed to have been used on the victim.”
Chae Kyong An buried his wife in a shallow grave while she was bound in an attempted murder plot.
After the 12-hour ordeal, she escaped the dirt grave and walked for 30 minutes before banging on the door of a house and asking for help.
When the door opened, she told the homeowner: “My husband is trying to kill me, help me,” news agency KCPQ reported.
After discovering his vehicle nearby, police arrested Kyong An.
He reportedly reached a plea deal with prosecutors who wanted him to receive a higher sentence.
According to Kyong An’s lawyers, he worked as a military intelligence warrant officer for 30 years and lived with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Psychological testing by both the state and defence agree that Mr An was experiencing PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) related symptoms during the events of October 16, 2022,” attorney Michael Austin Stewart wrote.
He was homeless at the time of the crime.
His lawyer claimed he was “overmedicated and undertreated” for his PTSD at the time of the attack.
Kyong An told the court he regrets what he did and has remorse every day.
“I wish that I could go back and never enter that house that day and walk away,” Kyong An said, addressing the courtroom.
