Lynnwood Case Strikingly Similar To West Coast Slayings, Police Say

LYNNWOOD - Police say the similarities are striking.

All of the victims were members of Asian-American families known to keep large amounts of cash at home.

In at least three cases, a 9mm gun was used to shoot the victims in their homes.

In each, there was no sign of forced entry, with robbery the probable motive.

And in all of the cases, the killer or killers obviously didn't want to leave any witnesses.

Lynnwood Police continue to add up the similarities between the July 4 slaying of three members of the An family and the recent slayings of other Asian-Americans in two California cities and Spokane. But detectives are far from declaring the case solved.

They were to meet with San Bernardino investigators in Seattle this morning to exchange information and compare evidence after a meeting scheduled for yesterday failed to materialize. Detectives from Pierce County also are interested in speaking with California authorities to see if there's any link with a triple homicide in November in Spanaway.

The recent arrests of three reputed members of an Asian gang in connection with slayings in Sacramento and San Bernardino, Calif., are the closest Lynnwood Police have come to a break in the case.

"It's the most solid thing we've got right now," said Lynnwood Police Chief Steve Jensen.

Three members of the An family - Im Suk An, 43; his wife, Sung Sook An, 42; and their son, Chang An, 19 - were shot to death in

their beds early July 4. Ballistics tests showed they were shot with the same 9mm gun.

The Ans' daughter, Eun Yong An, 15, was staying at a friend's house at the time of the slayings.

Lynnwood Police have said whoever killed the Ans may have expected to find a large amount of cash. The parents used to bring home $2,000 in receipts from a small grocery they owned in Seattle, and Chang An reportedly boasted to friends and associates about the cash his parents kept at home, police said.

But the Ans halted that practice about a year ago.

Although police have not disclosed any specific links between the Ans and the suspects arrested in California, the two men and one juvenile continue to be the main targets of their probe.

Samreth Pan, an 18-year-old Cambodian national, has been charged with the murder of five members of a Vietnamese family in San Bernardino on Aug. 10.

Two of Pan's associates, Run Chhuon, 22, of San Bernardino, and a 16-year-old Pomona boy, have each been charged in the killings of two men and wounding of a woman in Sacramento.

In interviews with police, the three suspects arrested in California said they had been in Seattle and Portland in July but denied being in Lynnwood, said Detective Stan Reed of the Sacramento County sheriff's office.

"That's why we're up there looking for similar murders," said San Bernardino Police Sgt. Roger Poyzer.

Authorities said yesterday the suspects in the California cases are thought to belong to a Southeast-Asian gang that operates throughout the U.S., particularly in California and the West Coast. Members of the gang are known to travel up and down the Interstate 5 corridor and even to the East Coast to commit robberies, said Kris Yoshida, a criminal-intelligence specialist with the California Department of Justice.

The gang usually targets Southeast-Asian families who keep large amounts of cash and valuables at home.

Lynnwood Police are investigating connections between the slayings of the Ans, who were Korean American, and the following cases:

-- Aug. 10, San Bernardino: Six members of a Vietnamese family were each shot in their home with a 9mm gun, according to San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney David Whitney. Pan was arrested Friday in Signal Hill, Calif., in connection with a street robbery. Police there discovered San Bernardino Police had issued an arrest warrant for Pan in connection with the slayings.

The victims were Henry Nguyen, 41; his wife Trinh, 35; their daughter Doan, 13; and two sons, Daniel, 11, and David, 10. Another child, Dennis, 3, survived a gunshot wound to the arm.

Cash and jewelry were taken, Whitney said. One victim was tortured with toothpaste squeezed into her nose until she revealed the location of valuables, a tactic used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War, Whitney said.

Whitney said police arrested two others Tuesday: a 19-year-old San Bernardino woman who knew the family and allegedly helped set up the robbery, and a 16-year-old male who allegedly drove Pan to and from the scene. Charges in the slayings could be filed against the pair as early as today, he said.

Thus far, police haven't said whether they think the woman and 16-year-old may be connected with any other deaths.

-- July 27, Sacramento County: Heunt Luu, 47, and his father, Letntip Luu, 74, were both shot to death and Heunt's wife, Quien Luu, 44, suffered a gunshot wound. Each member of the Viet-Chinese family was shot with a 9mm gun in their apartment, Reed said.

Police think the motive was robbery, he said. The family sold soda, cigarettes and other items from their apartment, Reed said. Chhuon and the 16-year-old were arrested Aug. 16 by Sacramento County police, who had been looking for them in connection with the slayings, Reed said. -- Aug. 3 and 6, San Bernardino: Two other people were killed, and police said Pan, Chhuon and the 16-year-old also are suspects in that case. San Bernardino police would not release details except to say the victims were Asian-American.

-- On July 10, North Spokane: Johnny Hagan Jr., 26, and Hong Nga Thi Pham, 23, a Vietnamese couple, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in their apartment. Whitney said Chhuon's fingerprints were found at the crime scene, but Spokane Police would not confirm that.

Robbery is suspected as a motive because the couple rented videos out of their apartment and kept cash and jewelry, said Spokane Police Detective Jim Peterson, who did not reveal the type of weapon used.

In addition, Pierce County sheriff's Lt. Pete Carder said yesterday a detective from his department planned to meet with the California detectives to learn whether their suspects may have been involved in a triple-slaying in Spanaway last year.

On Nov. 16, Mi Cha DeCorte, 48; her husband, George DeCorte, 71; and Hyun Duk Yoo, 41, a female house guest of the DeCortes, were found shot at the DeCortes' Spanaway home. Cha DeCorte and Yoo were Korean.