A Norwich man accused of shooting and killing his wife of just three weeks in 2009 has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court next month.
Chihan Eric Chyung, 54, is accused of shooting his wife on June 2, 2009 at their home on Norwich Avenue in Taftville.
According to the prosecutor's report, Chyung claimed to have shot his wife accidentally, saying his finger was not “consciously” on the trigger when he fired it.
The report stated that Chyung and his wife, Paige, had been arguing for most of the evening when she left the house. When she returned, Chyung had packed a suitcase and was waiting in the kitchen for her.
The arguing continued and when Chyung decided to leave, he realized he had forgotten his gun upstairs and went to get it. He didn’t want to have his Glock 9mm pistol stolen, and since his wife didn’t know how to use it, he was going to take it with him.
Chyung told police that when he was about to put the gun away in his suitcase when it fired in the direction of his wife. When he saw her lying on the kitchen floor with blood around her head, he knew she was dead and didn’t check to see.
Instead, he just left in his pickup truck without calling police. According to the report, as he was driving he "called a close friend and told him he had killed his wife.” The friend urged him to go back and call 911.
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On his way home, Chyung got lost several times and finally called police at 11:39 p.m., telling them, “I killed my wife. I killed her. I didn’t mean to,” according to the Norwich Bulletin.
Chyung was charged with murder and first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. He remains in custody on $3 million bond.
He appealed to the state Supreme Court, arguing that the jury verdicts convicting him of murder and manslaughter were conflicting. He says murder is an intentional act and manslaughter is a reckless act.
He is due back in court on Aug. 22.
