A Buddhist monk has been convicted of the attempted murder of his superior at a Sydney temple.
Karuna Kim, 32, was found guilty on Friday of wounding with intent to murder, after shooting fellow monk Tha Lam with a nail gun in October 2014.
The Vietnamese national reportedly injured the Temple official after becoming angered at the possibility of deportation, Nine News reports.
Buddhist monk Karuna Kim (pictured) has been convicted of the attempted murder of his superior at a Sydney temple in 2014
The incident took place at the Vat Ketanak Khmer Temple in Rossmore, in Sydney’s south-west on October 29, 2014.
Then 29-year-old Kim reportedly shot Lam once in the head piercing his brain, before turning the weapon on himself.
Both suffered serious wounds to their heads in the altercation, which left them each in a coma.
It came after Kim had been upset and angry when his Australian visa was denied, the New South Wales District Court heard.
Kim (left) was found guilty on Friday of wounding with intent to murder, after shooting Tha Lam (right) with a nail gun in October 2014
The incident took place at the Vat Ketanak Khmer Temple (pictured) in Rossmore, in Sydney’s south-west on October 29, 2014
Kim had reportedly visited Lam’s wife in the lead-up to the attack, with the District Court judge stating he had made threats to murder.
During the trial the defence argued Kim was mentally ill, however the judge disagreed and said there was ‘intent to kill’.
Following the incident, a member of the congregation told Nine News Mr Lam had allegedly heard a ‘bang, bang’ sound before he was shot.
Vannara Kim said Mr Lam was doing paperwork when the shot was fired, with the nail lodging behind the temple president’s right ear.
‘He said to me, first of all he heard ‘bang bang’ like the nail gun,’ he said after visiting the leader at the hospital.
‘After that the monk grabbed his head and shoot him. That’s what he tell me and that’s what I heard from the man.’
Kim is expected to face sentencing in November and is on bail.
Then 29-year-old Kim reportedly shot Lam once in the head piercing his brain, before turning the weapon on himself and despite claims of being mentally ill was found to have ‘intent to kill’