EL CAJON : Store Owner’s Killer Gets Life in Prison
An Orange County man who pleaded guilty to murder charges to avoid the death penalty was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Hai Van Nguyen, a 20-year-old member of the Garden Grove Boys gang, pleaded guilty in April to the fatal shooting of Thamir (Tom) Mikhael, 31, who was gunned down Aug. 18 at the Deliquery liquor store he owned in El Cajon.
Superior Court Judge Allan J. Preckle gave Nguyen the life sentence because Nguyen admitted to the special circumstances of committing murder during both a robbery and a burglary.
Preckle also sentenced Nguyen to life in prison for the attempted murder of David Wartan, who was severely wounded by a gunshot during the attempted theft.
Nguyen was the man who fired the shots, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Deddeh. Another man, Tin Trung Ngo, 19, is scheduled to be tried on murder and attempted murder charges beginning July 6, but prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in his case.
Nguyen pleaded guilty several days after Robert Alton Harris was put to death in the gas chamber at San Quentin.
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