Elderly Professor's Attacker Charged With Murder, DA Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A man who killed an Upper West Side college professor during a robbery will face murder charges, prosecutors said.

Matthew Lee, 50, was indicted Monday on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., announced. Lee is accused of killing 87-year-old Lehman College professor Young Kun Kim during a robbery at an Upper West Side bank, prosecutors said.

Lee followed Kim into the ATM area of a Citibank branch on Broadway between West 96th and 97th streets around 4:30 p.m. on May 13 and watched as Kim withdrew $300 from one of the machines, prosecutors said. When the machine dispensed the cash, Lee snatched the money from Kim, knocking the man to the ground in a struggle, prosecutors said.

Kim struck his head on the ground when he was knocked down and was left in the ATM area until he was discovered by bank customers, prosecutors said. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and died four days later, prosecutors said.

"Young Kun Kim, a beloved member of the Lehman College faculty, was simply running a Sunday errand when he was attacked and left for dead in his own Upper West Side community," Vance said in a statement. "Violence against seniors and other vulnerable residents of our city will be met with the full force of our laws."

Kim's former students described the professor as "sweet" and "very understanding," in interviews with the Post. He was also a resident of the Upper West Side, living in an apartment building on West End Avenue near West 100th Street.

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