Man Testifies Against Friends in ’94 Slaying
One of four accused in the 1994 slaying of a UCI engineering student testified against the other three Monday, and said he will plead guilty to the same murder charges they face.
Hoa Le, 20, of Orange testified that he and the three defendants currently on trial were in a van with Huyn Nguyen the afternoon Nguyen allegedly shot 19-year-old Robert Sapinoso.
Sapinoso was at a friend’s house in Garden Grove when the pair noticed a passing van they believed had been involved in a vandalism incident days earlier.
As they followed in Sapinoso’s car to copy down the van’s license plate number, a gunman got out and opened fire.
Le testified that he and the three defendants--Vinh Ta, 21, of Santa Ana, Hau Ha, 22, of Garden Grove, and Phat Doan, 23, of Westminster--were with the accused gunman and all were members of a street gang.
In return for testifying against Ta, Ha and Doan, Le said he was promised probation rather than time in prison. He must plead guilty to first-degree murder.
Nguyen, the accused gunman, is in Canada fighting extradition.
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