Public’s Help Is Sought for Leads

Relatives of a family found stabbed to death in their Garden Grove home over Memorial Day weekend pleaded Wednesday for the public’s help in tracking down the killers.

“I hope whoever did this to my family will pay a high price,” said one victim’s sister, who asked not to be identified because the killers were still at large.

“My family doesn’t deserve this. Nobody’s family should have to go through this.”

Police on Wednesday identified the victims as Phong Le, 30; his wife, Trish Lam, 25; and her 6-year-old son, Tommy. Autopsies revealed they died of stab wounds and that the boy was asleep at the time, police said.

The attackers beat the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, and left her for dead, officials said. But she managed to crawl around, in a soiled diaper, for at least two days. She was hospitalized for dehydration and was in protective custody, police said.

More than 20 investigators are working on the case.

“We don’t have any real leads. We don’t have any motive,” said Garden Grove Police Lt. Dennis Ellsworth. “We’re asking for the public’s help in solving this heinous crime. This is one of the most horrific crimes in the city.”

The killings occurred Friday night or Saturday morning at the two-story home on Summercrest Circle, but the gruesome discovery was not made until Monday, when Lam’s co-worker called police because she did not show up for work.

Le was found in an upstairs office, his wife in a bedroom and the boy his bed, police said.

The killings alarmed residents of the cul de sac, a neighborhood of red tile roofs and palm trees. Neighbors were having a block party Monday when police made the discovery

The news has rippled through the tightknit Vietnamese American community, which was shaken last year by the slayings of a fortuneteller and her daughter. Ha Smith, 52, and Anita Vo, 23, were found stabbed to death in their Westminster home. A North Carolina woman and her male friend were later arrested and have been ordered to stand trial.

“All of this has been happening and it’s really scary,” said Loan Nguyen, 47, a bookkeeper from Westminster who stopped at a Garden Grove sandwich shop during lunch Wednesday. “I heard the news on Vietnamese radio and it gives me the chills because it’s so violent.”

Authorities said Le, a former gang member nicknamed Dagger, had served about 6 1/2 years in prison for robbery and destroying jail property. He worked as a salesman at Today’s Furniture in Garden Grove before he quit last year to stay home and care for the baby.

Le’s former employer, Hong Tran, said he was a top-notch salesman who seemed to have been burdened by financial woes after buying his house. Le’s wife, who also went by the Vietnamese first name Ngoc, worked for about three years as a card dealer at a San Bernardino County casino.

Lam’s sister said she spoke to her two weeks ago and said there was no indication of problems.

“Everything was really normal,” the sister said.

She said her sister was well-liked at work and the family did not have financial problems.

She said Le had installed surveillance cameras inside and outside the home to watch the baby-sitters they occasionally hired.

Police declined to say whether there was any video footage with potential clues. They also would not disclose what type of weapon was used or if whether it has been recovered.