By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

THE main suspect in the murder of Un Chong Kim is facing a separate criminal case in the federal court for purchasing merchandise from the Navy Exchange using checks with insufficient funds.
Alvin Nash Quinata, 23, is now in jail after he was indicted with aggravated murder in connection with the death of Kim, his former employer.
Quinata worked as a cook at the Black Hole Nightclub in Maite owned by Kim.
He was in the U.S. District Court of Guam on Friday to answer the theft of government property indictment filed against him in August 2006 after he stole some $52,000 worth of cash and merchandise from the U.S. Navy store.
The grand jury charges stated that from April 13, 2006 and continuing up to May 16, 2006, Quinata purchased and received cash from the Navy Exchange using approximately 83 checks that had insufficient funds.
Quinata allegedly possessed the property for his own personal gain.
An employee of Kim’s bar who requested anonymity questioned why the court did not arrest Quinata right after he committed the federal case.
According to the worker, the murder could have been prevented if Quinata was put to jail after he was indicted on Aug. 2, 2006 for issuing bounced checks.
Court records showed that the federal court only required Quinata to show up for initial appearance thru writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum after learning that the defendant is already in the custody of the local detention center.
Kim’s body was found on Jan. 18, 2007 in a jungle area near the Sella Bay Lookout Park in Umatac. The cause of her death was blunt trauma to her head, and stab wounds to her neck and chest.
Quinata allegedly used a knife and rock in murdering Kim. He pleaded not guilty to the grand jury charges of aggravated murder and aggravated assault.
The $1 million recommended bail by Deputy Attorney General Basil O’Mallan for Quinata’s temporary release remained the same as his lawyer opted to set another day for bail hearing.
Quinata was ordered to return to court for a criminal trial date setting at 10 a.m. today. His case has been assigned to Judge Steven Unpingco.
Kim was reported missing on Jan. 17, 2007 after she did not return having said she would go shopping.
An employee of the club told investigators that Kim informed her that she was in Agat to meet with Quinata because the former employee owed her a substantial amount of money.
Kim’s daughter also told police that she remembered her mother having arguments on the telephone with a male individual she only knew as “Alvin” prior to her mother’s disappearance.
After Kim’s body was discovered in Umatac, her burnt vehicle, a Ford Ranger pickup truck, was located approximately 300 yards from the Vietnam Heroes Memorial Park which is about 100 yards from a water tank along Route 2 where witnesses saw Quinata on the same day.
An investigation also showed that Kim made several phone calls to Quinata’s home telephone number on Jan. 17 and the victim received an incoming call from a phone located at the Circle K 76 gas station in Aniqua.
A review of the station’s surveillance video revealed that Quinata had made a phone call from that phone at a time that corresponded with the phone call on Kim’s cell phone.
Several witnesses also saw Quinata walking along Route 2 in the vicinity of the park where the burnt vehicle of Kim was found.
A neighbor of Quinata informed police that the defendant had approached him and said he needed a ride to the police station because he beat up his boss, and he needed the friend to tell police that he was at his mother’s work.