Opinion ID: 674597
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Vientiane Restaurant Robbery in Connecticut

Text: 18 A week or so later, Thai decided that BTK should rob the Vientiane Restaurant, a Laotian restaurant in Bridgeport also identified by Fat Lam as a potential target. Designating Kenny Vu, Lan Tran, and a third member of the gang to execute the robbery, Thai again told Lan Tran to enter first, with the other two gang members to follow. 19 Accordingly, on November 11, Lan Tran entered the Vientiane Restaurant, went into the kitchen, and forced the five employees into the back room, where he told them to sit on the floor and keep their hands over their heads. Kenny Vu and the third gang member entered the restaurant, and the robbers took money from the cash register and jewelry from some of the individuals. The robbers then pulled the telephones from the wall and left the restaurant, with Lan Tran pausing to point and cock his gun at the owner before leaving. 20 The robbers then went to the Bridgeport house where Thai and other gang members were waiting. They turned the proceeds of the robbery, approximately $5,000, over to Thai. 21 4. The San Wa Fine Jewelry Store Robbery in Georgia and the Attempted Murder of Odum Lim 22 In late November 1990, Thai told Tinh Ngo the gang was going to commit a robbery far away, and he sent Tinh Ngo, Kenny Vu, Tan Lai, codefendant Bao Hung Tran (Nicky), and other gang members to Georgia. Thai, Hoang Ngo, and others also went to Georgia, and they met with the first group in Gainesville. Thai, Hoang Ngo, Lan Tran, and others stayed at the home of Hoang Ngo's uncle (the Gainesville house), while the first group stayed in a motel. Hoang Ngo drove Thai and other gang members from Gainesville to the San Wa Fine Jewelry store in nearby Doraville, Georgia. Thai, after checking inside, said the store would be easy to hit. (Tr. 591.) Hoang Ngo went to a pawn shop and purchased four guns. 23 Thai and several other BTK members, including Lan Tran, Quang, and Hoang Ngo, planned the robbery. As eventually executed, 10 members of the gang drove in three cars to a parking lot several blocks from the store; Thai then broke his necklace and told Nicky to enter the store pretending to want to get it fixed. Eight gang members then proceeded in two of the cars to the San Wa Fine Jewelry store. When they reached the store, the only people there were owners Odum Lim and his wife Kim Lee Lim, with their two young daughters. Nicky entered and approached Kim Lim, asking her to repair the broken necklace. He then jumped the counter, grabbed her by the neck, and forced her and her daughters at gunpoint to the back of the store. Nicky placed Kim Lim in handcuffs and told her that if she made a loud noise, he would kill her and her daughters. Lan Tran took money from the safe, Tinh Ngo broke the showcases and took jewelry, and Kenny Vu guarded the front door to ensure that no one interfered. 24 In the meantime, Tan Lai had pulled out a knife and grabbed Odum Lim, while another gang member pointed a gun at Odum Lim's head. Odum Lim tried to get possession of the gun, which fired into the ceiling. During the struggle, Tan Lai stabbed Odum Lim repeatedly. Finally, Tan Lai called to Lan Tran for help, and Lan Tran came over and shot Odum Lim in the head. The gang members gathered up the jewelry and rushed out to the waiting cars, inadvertently leaving Nicky behind, and drove back to the parking lot. There they met Thai and Quang and returned to the Gainesville house. Nicky eventually returned to the house in a taxi. 25 All told, the gang had taken more than $53,000 in cash and jewelry, which they turned over to Thai. Once all of the gang members had returned to the house, Thai gave each $400-500 and told them to return immediately to New York. He said he would try to sell the jewelry and give them more money later. 26 Odum Lim was hospitalized for nearly a month but survived the attack. 5. The Asian Market Robbery in Tennessee 27 A few days before the San Wa Fine Jewelry robbery, Quang arrived at the Gainesville house and suggested robbing a Vietnamese jewelry store that was two hours away. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy retrieved a gun from the closet and he, Quang, and another gang member left the house. 28 On November 22, 1990, Ms. Quang Nguyen (not related to defendant Quang Van Nguyen or defendant Jimmy Nguyen) was at work in her shop, the Asian Market, a food and jewelry store located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, some 120 miles from Gainesville, Georgia. Jimmy and another gang member entered, walked around the store, purchased a few items, and then left. As Ms. Nguyen prepared to leave for the evening and placed the store's jewelry and cash in a bag, Jimmy knocked at the door and asked for directions. When Ms. Nguyen opened the door to answer, Jimmy forced her back into the store at gunpoint and told her that if she made any noise he would kill her. Another gang member entered the store and put a gun to Ms. Nguyen's back, and the robbers took her bag, which contained approximately $4,000 in cash and $62,000 worth of jewelry. 29 Forcing Ms. Nguyen to the back of the store, Jimmy bound her with plastic tape and pistol-whipped her. Seating her on a bag of rice, the other gang member took a knife and repeatedly stabbed the bag on either side of Ms. Nguyen until she fainted. The robbers then returned to the Gainesville house, where they gave the proceeds of the robbery to Thai. (Tr. 2643.) 6. The Golden Star Jewelry Store Robbery 30 In early 1991, Thai decided that the gang should rob Golden Star Jewelry, a Vietnamese-owned store located at 302 Canal Street. He selected several gang members, including Jimmy, to commit the robbery. On January 21, 1991, those designated were driven to the jewelry store in two cars. Armed, several of them entered and ordered the employees and the owner, Sen Van Ta, to lie on the floor and keep their faces down. The robbers proceeded to take jewelry from the store and took money and jewelry from the employees. Several of the employees were beaten. 31 As the robbers left, a police officer noticed two Asian males run from the direction of the jewelry store and enter a blue Cadillac. He then saw two other Asian males run from the same direction, throw a bag into the back seat of the Cadillac, and jump into the car, which had already begun to move. Several officers pursued the Cadillac through the streets of Chinatown. During the chase, the occupants of the Cadillac opened the doors and threw guns and ammunition into the street. The Cadillac eventually went through a red light and crashed into an oncoming vehicle, coming to a stop shortly thereafter. The driver of the car was Hoang Ngo; he and three other gang members were arrested, and a small quantity of jewelry from Golden Star Jewelry was recovered. 32 That night, Jimmy, who had not been in the Cadillac, met Thai and gave him a bag of jewelry from the robbery. The four gang members who had been arrested eventually pleaded guilty to robbery charges in state court. 7. The Murder of Sen Van Ta 33 After the robbery of Golden Star Jewelry, Sen Van Ta, the owner, identified several of the robbers in a line-up. BTK then began a series of attempts to prevent Ta from testifying. First, Thai spoke with Ta and one of the employees; Thai later told BTK members that he had convinced these witnesses not to testify. A few weeks later, Ta received an anonymous letter containing broken glass and a newspaper article about the robbery. On another occasion, Thai approached Ta as he was opening the store and told him to go to court and say that the four arrested BTK members were not the robbers. 34 In February 1991, BTK members collecting money from the merchants on Canal Street demanded money at Golden Star Jewelry. Ta refused, saying, our shop was just robbed, how would we have money to give you. (Tr. 4644.) LV Hong, informed of Ta's refusal, returned to the store with several other gang members and berated Ta, who persisted in his refusal to pay. Ta promptly reported these visits to the police, and he later identified LV Hong and another gang member as two of the would-be extortionists. LV Hong and the other gang member were arrested; they were later released. 35 After his release, LV Hong related these events to Thai, and Thai said he wanted to solve the problem at 302 Canal Street, the one who called the policemen. (Tr. 2348.) Lan Tran offered to take care of Sen Van Ta. 36 On the evening of March 10, 1991, Lan Tran and Kenny Vu hired a car and were driven to Chinatown. Lan Tran got out, telling Kenny Vu to wait, and walked to a shop just north of Canal Street, where Ta was helping his wife close up. Ta's 12-year-old nephew Vinh Tran was also present. Lan Tran walked into the store, pulled out a gun, and fatally shot Ta in the head. 8. The E5 Communications Robbery 37 E5 Communications, a Chinese-owned beeper and cellular telephone store north of Canal Street, was a main supplier of equipment and beeper service for BTK members. In March 1991, E5 refused to give free beepers to certain BTK members, including LV Hong. Kenny Vu later informed one of the owners of E5 that LV Hong was a big brother on Canal Street and that E5 should give him a free beeper and telephone. When E5 refused, LV Hong suggested to Thai that they rob the store. Thai agreed and instructed LV Hong, Jimmy, and two others to commit the robbery. 38 On the evening of March 25, 1991, Jimmy and one of the other gang members entered the store. They pulled out guns and told the store employees to get on the floor. The robbers kicked one employee and forced another to open the cash register; they fled with a telephone, approximately $2,000 in cash, and jewelry taken from the employees. After the robbery, Kenny Vu informed one of E5's owners that the store had been robbed because of E5's refusal to provide free beepers to BTK members. 9. The E5 Communications Extortions 39 Before and after the robbery of E5 Communications, BTK also used intimidation and threats to ensure free or discounted beeper service. Gang members would enter the store in groups, announce that they were Canal Boys or from Canal Street, and demand discounted beeper service or free accessories. If the owners balked, the gang would become disruptive, causing other customers to leave, and would refuse to stop until the owners gave them what they wanted. In addition, for more than a year, E5 received calls once or twice a month from persons identifying themselves as BTK members and threatening that if E5 failed to give the gang beeper service, BTK would blow up the store. Eventually, E5 agreed to give BTK members a 33% discount on their beeper service. 40 At times the BTK members refused to pay even this discounted price. In early 1991, prior to the March 1991 robbery described in Part I.B.8 above, E5 turned off the beepers of two gang members who had not paid their bills. Minh Do then went to E5 and demanded that the beepers be restored to service. When E5 refused, Minh Do returned with LV Hong and Lan Tran, said that the beepers belonged to the two men, who were his dai los, or leaders, and insisted that the beepers be reactivated. E5, after attempting unsuccessfully to collect the unpaid bills, reactivated the beepers. Before leaving the store, Lan Tran warned one of the owners never to turn the beepers off again. In July 1991, E5 again turned off LV Hong's beeper service. LV Hong and Lan Tran paid another personal visit to the store and again successfully demanded restoration of service without payment of bills. 10. The Assault on Nigel Jagmohan 41 On April 15, 1991, Nigel Jagmohan and three other gang members held up a jewelry store on Canal Street but crashed their getaway car into a street pole. Though the driver of the car was immobilized, Jagmohan and the other gang members escaped. Jagmohan told his cohorts that while he was leaving the scene of the crash, he had thrown away a bag of jewelry acquired in the robbery. 42 The following day, LV Hong began to inquire about the proceeds of the robbery. That evening, LV Hong and Thai sought out Jagmohan at a BTK safehouse in Brooklyn. Rejecting Jagmohan's repeated assertions that he had thrown the bag of jewelry away, LV Hong and Thai attempted to beat him into turning it over. LV Hong repeatedly hit him over the head with a portable radio and a cutting board, while Thai kicked him. After some 30 minutes, LV Hong and Thai apparently concluded that Jagmohan did not know where the jewelry was, and the beating ceased. By that time, Jagmohan was bleeding profusely and blood was splattered all over the room. LV Hong ordered Jagmohan to leave the safehouse; Jagmohan complied and had no further contact with BTK. 43 11. The Conspiracy To Rob the Ming Jewelry Store in Rochester 44 In early May 1991, Thai and Lan Tran told Tinh Ngo that Lan Tran, Minh Do, Tinh Ngo, and Tam Thanh Do (Son) would travel several hours away to commit a robbery. A few days later, they drove to Rochester and met Thai at the hotel in which he was staying. Thai told them he wanted the four of them to rob the Ming Jewelry Store near Thai's hotel. Thai instructed that if store employees resisted during the robbery, they should be shot in the head. 45 By this time, however, Tinh Ngo had become a government informant, and when the BTK members set out for the jewelry store the next morning, forewarned law enforcement authorities stopped them. The gang members were questioned; their cars were searched, and their weapons and ammunition were found. However, to protect Tinh Ngo, the police released all of them, indicating that they had been stopped because they met the descriptions of drug traffickers. 46 12. The Conspiracy To Bomb the Pho Bang Restaurant 47 In early August 1991, Thai told Tinh Ngo that Thai had been offered $10,000 to set off a bomb at the Pho Bang Restaurant in Chinatown. Thai told Tinh Ngo that he had previously instructed Minh Do to bomb the Pho Bang but that Minh Do had bombed the wrong restaurant; Thai learned of the error from the person who had hired him for the job. Thai then gave Tinh Ngo a homemade bomb and instructed him how to detonate it. He told Tinh Ngo to find a new gang member to do the job. Tinh Ngo persuaded a newly-enlisted gang member, Tom, to do the bombing; another gang member, Hai, offered to act as a lookout. However, Tinh Ngo spoke to the police, and when Tom and Hai approached the Pho Bang Restaurant that night, the police arrested them and took possession of the bomb. 13. The Conspiracy To Rob Sun Moon Trading 48 Also in early August, Thai and Lan Tran planned to rob Sun Moon Trading, a watch company in Manhattan. Lan Tran explained to Tinh Ngo that some Italians were going to gain entry to the store by pretending to be federal agents, and that BTK members would then rob the company. On the morning planned for this robbery, Thai drove Lan Tran and LV Hong to Manhattan. After dropping them off, Thai picked up Tinh Ngo and Eddie Tran, who were to load the watches into a van and drive the van to Long Island. The robbery plan was abandoned, however, when their Italian cohorts spotted police surveillance near Sun Moon Trading.