Tam Le was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for a double murder
According to court documents Tam Le would invited the two victims over to his home, when Vu “Kevin” Huynh, 31, and Viet Huynh, 28, arrived they would be stripped, tortured for hours and murdered. The brothers owed Tam Le a lot of money
Tam Le would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Tam Le Photos
Tam Le Now
Parole Number: 890DT
Age: 51
Date of Birth: 12/20/1971
Race/Ethnicity: ASIAN
Height: 5′ 07″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: UNKNOWN
Complexion: MEDIUM
Current Location: PHOENIX
Permanent Location: PHOENIX
Committing County: PHILADELPHIA
Tam Le Case
Several more people now face criminal charges in the killings of two brothers whose bound bodies were found in a Philadelphia river almost six years ago, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Tam Minh Le, a native of Vietnam, was sentenced to death in the August 2014 murders of 31-year-old Vu “Kevin” Huynh and his 28-year-old brother Viet.
Prosecutors alleged that Tam Minh Le tortured and stabbed them and another man over a $300,000 drug debt, then dumped them into the Schuylkill River, their faces covered with duct tape and their legs weighted down with cement. The third man survived.
Authorities have since alleged that 48-year-old Lam Trieu originally ordered the kidnapping of the brothers. Lam Trieu, whom authorities described in a detention order as a “gangster and drug dealer” from New York with a lengthy criminal record, faces trial in June on conspiracy, extortion, and drug and racketeering counts.
Prosecutors stressed that Lam Trieu didn’t order the murders but note that “when one sends three goons to collect a $300,000 drug debt, it is reasonably foreseeable that events can go off track and someone can be seriously hurt or killed.”
And although Lam Trieu was reportedly upset about the killings, prosecutors allege in the detention order that he ordered some of his co-defendants to return to Philadelphia and execute the surviving man “to prevent him from being a witness.”
Three other men accused of having helped Le face kidnapping, racketeering, extortion and conspiracy counts; a fourth is alleged to have acted as a lookout. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a sixth man, Hai Nguyen, 37, pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to FBI agents about helping Le escape to upstate New York.
All are in custody save one defendant the FBI believes to have fled to Vietnam; a $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to arrest.
Lam Trieu’s attorney, Paul Lieber, said the case is pending in court and declined comment