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Train death toll climbs to five; alleged motives emerge

By JOHN DeSANTIS

MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A fifth victim succumbed Wednesday to gunshot wounds suffered during the bloody massacre aboard the rush-hour Long Island Rail Road train Tuesday evening.

Kim Mi Kyung, 27, died at 3:45 p.m. EST, said Nassau County Medical Center Nursing Supervisor Patricia Lynch. Lynch said a single bullet had pierced Kyung's left temple and burst out at the base of her skull.

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Kyung, of New Hyde Park, N.Y., had been rushed by helicopter from the scene of the bloodshed Tuesday and was listed at first as a Jane Doe. She had been on life support systems before she died.

She was the fifth person to die as a result of Tuesday's attack, which also injured 21 others, that occurred when a lone gunman opend fire aboard the commuter train traveling from New York City to Long Island.

The alleged gunman, Colin Ferguson, 35, was arraigned Wednesday morning on charges related to the attack, including the deaths of the four passengers who died in their seats.

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Also Wednesday, New York City police revealed a prior arrest of Ferguson in 1992. In that incident, Ferguson was seized by a passerby and three Transit Police after allegedly attacking a white woman on a city subway train.

Ferguson claimed in a Dec. 3, 1992, letter to Mayor David Dinkins and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly that he was the target of racism by the woman and police.

Also revealed Wednesday by Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon were the contents of the notes allegedly carried by Ferguson during the terror-filled shooting spree.

In sometimes fractured English, the notes said, 'New York City was spared because of my respect for Mayor David Dinkins and Comm (Commissioner) Raymond Kelly while official still in office. Nassau County is the Venue.'

Both officials lost their jobs, effective Jan. 1, when Rudolph Giuliani was elected New York City mayor last month.

The notes, allegedly written by Ferguson, also list various objects of his wrath, some of whom he accused of racism.

The notes list 'additional reasons' and cites 'the sloppy running of the No. 2 train. It is racism by Caucasians and Uncle Tom Negroes. Also the false allegtions against me by the filthy caucasian Racist female on the No. 1 line.'

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Ferguson allegedly also referred to 'those Corrupt 'Black' Attorneys who not only refused to help me but tried to steal my car. Also those So-Called Civil rights leaders such the Rev. Herbert Daughtry C. Vernon Mason And Calvin Butts.

'Also: The racism of MARK MARTIN AND the Legal Aid Society And Court System.'

Martin was named in the Dec. 3, 1992, letter as Ferguson's attorney in the case relating to the accused killer's alleged attack on a white woman on the No. 1 train near 42nd Street in Manhattan.

The letter to Dinkins and Kelly discussing the incident was signed by Ferguson but was written as if it were by Martin.

In the letter, which accuses the police of racism, it said, 'A caucasian man with a pitbull or the subway platform impersonating a police officer had his dog jump on Mr. Ferguson's chest.'

Transit Police Chief John Kavanagh said Martin disavowed the letter at the time.

Other reports of Ferguson's problems with authority also came to light Wednesday. He apparently had clashes with Long Island's Adelphi University, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York state Workers Compensation Board.

Ferguson reportedly was hit with disciplinary measures at the school while he was a student there in 1991. Workers Compensation Board documents indicate Ferguson was unhappy with the handling of a 1989 claim for compensation.

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Ferguson's hearing for Oct. 25 this year had been cancelled, the papers said.

The notes, which were undergoing handwriting analysis by police, also contained an unexplained aside to Ferguson's neighbors in Brooklyn, N.Y.

It said, 'Those filthy swines ... are not my friends. Once they hear of this they will loot all the evidence in my Room such as Documents and Tapes I hate them With a Passion.'

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