May 21, 2008 1:08 pm US/Eastern
Tenafly Triple Murder Suspect To Appear In Court
TENAFLY, N.J. (AP) ―
The man charged with stabbing three members of a family to death in their Tenafly home is due in court.
A judge Wednesday is expected to outline the murder charges against Kang-Hyuk Choi of Valley Stream, N.Y.
Choi is charged with killing his 27-year-old friend then waiting hours in the friend's room before killing the friend's mother and uncle.
Authorities said evidence in his friend's diary led them to California, where the 32-year-old was arrested Sunday.
Authorities believe a fight over money led to the stabbing deaths.
Choi was a frequent gambler in casinos in New Jersey and California, according to those who played with him.
"Whatever the biggest games in here were, he would play," Dave Cardenas, a regular in the high-stakes poker den at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Wednesday's newspapers. "He played crazy. He'd bet and raise constantly. We call those maniacs."
Choi also played at the Commerce Casino near Los Angeles, according to Kyle Burnside of Mays Landing, who said he played poker against
Choi in both places.
Burnside told the newspaper said Choi "always lost" at the Borgata, losing hands of $4,000, $8,000 and more. In California, Burnside said, "he was usually winning."
Cardenas said Choi sometimes dropped $10,000 or $12,000 at a time in Atlantic City. But he and fellow gamblers were shocked at his arrest.
"Everyone was absolutely surprised," Cardenas said. "No one thought this guy could do something like this."
Prosecutors have not said whether they believe Choi's gambling was related to the murder charge against him.
A Borgata spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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