Inmate Says Lam Told of Political Plot Behind Killing of Cooperman

An 18-year-old jail inmate has told authorities that Vietnamese refugee Minh Van Lam said he killed Cal State Fullerton professor Edward Lee Cooperman on orders from an Orange County Vietnamese businessman. The inmate is expected to be called as a witness at Lam’s trial for murder, sources confirmed Monday.

The informant, Tauno A. Koivisto III, of Newport Beach, is awaiting trial on auto theft and burglary charges. In a taped interview with investigators for the district attorney’s office last Thursday, Koivisto said Lam told him he killed Cooperman on Oct. 13 with a .25-caliber pistol provided to him by the Vietnamese businessman, who first tried to bribe him, then threatened him.

Vague Recollection of Name

Koivisto said Lam had named the businessman but told authorities he had only a vague recollection of the name. Koivisto said that throughout their conversation, Lam used the word “they” in referring to those behind the shooting but did not elaborate. Koivisto said the conversation took place in the Orange County Jail, in Santa Ana.

Lam, interviewed at the jail Sunday night, called Koivisto’s story “all lies.” Lam said he never met Koivisto, the name meant nothing to him and he has not discussed his case with any inmate.

Lam, 21, is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 14. He has admitted that he shot the professor but said the gun went off by accident when Cooperman grabbed his arm to show him how to aim the weapon.

Cooperman was the head of a scientific committee providing humanitarian aid to Vietnam and was controversial also because he strongly advocated normal relations between the United States and communist Vietnam.

Cooperman’s family and friends have insisted since the shooting that Cooperman, who had told them of death threats in recent months, was the victim of political assassination. Until Koivisto came forward, the prosecution has said there was no evidence that a political motive was involved.

‘On the Wrong Side’

According to Koivisto’s story, the businessman told Lam he had a dream of rebuilding Vietnam and that Cooperman was on the wrong side.

Lam’s attorney, Alan May, said he learned directly from the district attorney’s office Monday that Koivisto would testify.

Later Monday, May filed a motion in Superior Court, seeking to block Koivisto’s testimony. The trial judge, who has not yet been assigned, will hold a hearing sometime during the trial to determine whether a jury should hear Koivisto’s story.

May said Koivisto is “not only a liar, but a bad liar.”

Koivisto claimed, during the taped interview, that those behind the shooting had promised Lam they would see to it that his father and mother got to America if he killed Cooperman.

Lam’s father is dead, and his mother has been in the United States for several years, according to family members.

“It shows how desperate the prosecution is for them to even consider using such a witness,” May said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mel Jensen, who will prosecute Lam, refused to comment.

Koivisto was arrested in August by Los Angeles police while driving a Cadillac that had been reported stolen from Big Canyon Country Club. He was later charged with auto theft, burglary, and charging more than $2,800 on credit cards taken in the burglary.

A police officer who testified at Koivisto’s preliminary hearing, in September, said the young Newport Beach man confessed to two burglaries and stealing the car.

Long Police Record

Koivisto’s father, Tauano Koivisto, told The Times his son had a history of trouble with the police, dating back to his early teens. Asked if he believed his son was telling the truth about Lam, the elder Koivisto said, “I really can’t say. I’d like to think he is. But the boy has had an awful lot of problems.”

Koivisto told district attorney’s investigators Ron Johnson and Wayne Harber that Lam made the confession several weeks ago. He said he didn’t tell authorities earlier because he was afraid, he said.

In the taped interview, Koivisto said Lam told him that Cooperman was like a father to him, but that others in the Vietnamese community who had seen them together told him Cooperman was “no good” and had the wrong political ideas.

Koivisto said Lam told him “they” (those behind the shooting) planned to enter the professor’s office after the shooting and take some of Cooperman’s papers.

Lam has admitted taking a girlfriend to a movie after the shooting, then returning to Cooperman’s sixth-floor Science Building office and placing the gun in Cooperman’s left hand. He then called the campus police and reported the shooting as if he had just discovered the body.

Koivisto says Lam told him he had been instructed not to return to the office, but he did so anyway because he had felt close to Cooperman.

The promises made to Lam, according to Koivisto’s story, were to bring his parents from Vietnam and to provide money for them. Koivisto said Lam told him he rejected that offer but agreed to take the gun from the businessman because the man threatened to kill Lam’s sister if he didn’t cooperate.

Koivisto said he was moved into Lam’s dormitory jail cell several weeks before Lam “confessed” to him. Koivisto said he was moved from his own cell area to Lam’s because someone had accused him of “ratting” in another case.

At one point on the tape, Detective Johnson asked Koivisto how he could have such a good recollection of events a month after the alleged conversation with Lam.

“You really don’t forget something like that,” Koivisto said.

May went on court record at Lam’s arraignment in October, stating he would vehemently fight any attempt to use “jailhouse snitches” to testify against Lam. He said later he had warned his client about jail informants, and had ordered him never to discuss his case with any inmate.

May was upset Monday over another development beside the Koivisto taped interview. His client was moved into protective custody against his wishes.

“We strenuously object,” May said. “The only reason for moving him into protective custody is because it makes it easier for another snitch to say he got a confession from Minh.”