A taekwondo instructor faces three counts of murder for the deaths of a seven-year-old student and the boy’s parents in Sydney, Australia.

In an Associated Press (AP) report it was noted that lawyers for Kwang Kyung Yoo, 49, appeared on his behalf in the Parramatta Local Court hearing, but did not apply for Yoo to be released on bail or enter any plea to the charges.

Yoo, the owner of the Lion’s Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy and known to his students as Master Lion, remained under police guard at a hospital after undergoing surgery for what police described as stab or slash wounds to his chest, stomach and arms, the AP said.

Authorities claim that Yoo is suspected of strangling his student and the boy’s mother, Min Cho, to death at his academy on Monday evening. Following this, it is alleged that Yoo drove her car to the family home, where he fatally stabbed her husband, Steven Cho.

Yoo subsequently transported himself to the hospital, where he informed medical staff and law enforcement that he had been assaulted in a supermarket parking lot. The discovery of the bodies occurred on Tuesday.

The police have refrained from disclosing a motive behind the violent incident, and they have not clarified whether Yoo sustained injuries during a confrontation or if the wounds were self-inflicted.

Yoo’s only publicly known connections to the family thus far are their shared South Korean heritage, and the fact that the young boy was a regular participant in taekwondo classes.

Until his case is scheduled to return to court on April 18, Yoo is required to remain in custody, either under police supervision in the hospital or in prison.

The AP explained that he is expected to appear in court on that date by video link. He did not appear in court on Thursday.

The maximum penalty for someone convicted of murder in New South Wales state is life imprisonment, with a standard non-parole period of 20 years for the murder of an adult and 25 years for the murder of a child.