Hate Crime Adds to Charges Filed in Stabbing of Ly

Prosecutors added a hate crime charge Wednesday against an alleged white supremacist accused of accosting a former UCLA Vietnamese American student leader on a high school tennis court and stabbing him to death.

Gunner J. Lindberg, 21, was ordered to stand trial Wednesday on murder charges in connection with the Jan. 28 slaying of Thien Minh Ly. Because prosecutors are alleging the crime occurred during an attempted robbery and was motivated by hate, Lindberg could face the death penalty, though a decision has not been made whether to pursue that punishment.

Vietnamese American community leaders, who have been pressing for hate crime charges in recent talks with authorities, hailed the action.

“This particular crime was so horrendous,” said Dinh Le, a member of a community committee involved in the talks with authorities. “We have to send out a strong anti-hate crime message in the community. We need to stem the increasing rate of hate crimes. We believe strongly that this particular case could serve as an example.”

The committee said it was organized because of what it described as conflicting statements by investigators that left them concerned that hate might be discounted as motive in the murder of Ly. The 24-year-old former president of UCLA’s Vietnamese Students Assn. was stabbed more than a dozen times at the Tustin High School tennis courts, where he regularly practiced in-line skating.

Lindberg allegedly recounted the crime in a graphic and rambling letter to a prison buddy, beginning with the remark: “Oh, I killed a Jap a while ago.”

Search warrant documents also showed that white supremacist materials were found in an apartment Lindberg shared with co-defendant, Domenic Christopher, including a poster celebrating the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Testimony in court Wednesday included allegations that Lindberg was affiliated with white supremacist groups and individuals, some that espouse violence against minorities, community leaders said.

Christopher, who was 17 at the time of the crime, has been ordered to stand trial as an adult on murder charges. He does not face additional allegations implicating him in robbery or hate crimes.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Police initially said they were investigating Ly’s slaying as a hate crime, but days later said that robbery appeared to be the primary motive in the crime.

Assistant Dist. Atty. John D. Conley said a months-long investigation by police and district attorney’s office investigators resulted in the additional hate crime charge.

“The fact that he uses a racial slur in talking about the case doesn’t prove it,” Conley said, adding extra time was needed to gather the evidence prosecutors believed was needed to prove the charge.

“The charges were filed because the evidence supported the charges,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Debbie Lloyd said.

Relatives of the victim and community leaders said they were gratified with the extra charge.

“I’m certainly relieved that they did a full investigation and are willing to bring the charge,” said Julie Su, an attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center who worked with community leaders.

The victim’s sister said her family is also pleased, although nothing can help ease their pain.

“I’m happy he’s charged with this because it was obvious,” Thu Ly said. “You don’t want them to get away with anything.”

Lindberg, in a jailhouse interview following his arrest, said it was Christopher--his roommate and co-worker at a Kmart--who did the stabbing, using a knife the pair found on a roadside during that night’s marijuana binge.

But police, in possession of the letter Lindberg wrote to his friend, said they didn’t believe the story. Lindberg, an ex-con, also is wanted in connection with a shotgun attack in Missouri last summer, authorities said.