DNA Evidence to Be Admitted in Murder Trial

A Superior Court judge on Monday ruled DNA evidence admissible in the trial of Gunner Lindberg, accused in the 1996 stabbing death of a Vietnamese American college student leader.

The decision was one of two rulings by Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald on pretrial motions in the case against Lindberg, 22, who could face the death penalty if convicted of murder and one of two special circumstances of attempted robbery and committing a hate crime.

Ruth Ikeda, a DNA analyst for the Orange County crime lab, testified that blood found on a pair of gloves in Lindberg’s bedroom was consistent with the blood of Thien Minh Ly, who was attacked while skating on a tennis court near his parents’ home in Tustin.

Further evidence revealed that some of the blood was consistent with a combination of Lindberg’s and Ly’s blood, Ikeda said.

In a separate ruling Monday, Fitzgerald said prosecutors may introduce information concerning three robberies that Lindberg committed prior to the slaying as evidence that he had intended to rob Ly.

Prosecutors argued that those robberies, which Lindberg committed while a juvenile, were similar enough to events on the night of Ly’s murder to show intent.

But defense attorney David Zimmerman asked Monday in regard to the Ly incident, “if indeed it was an attempted robbery, why wasn’t anything taken?” Zimmerman would not comment later on the judge’s decision.

Prosecutors said the attack was similar to the three others in that Lindberg brought a companion with him to commit the crimes.

Ly was attacked by two assailants, prosecutors said, one of whom stabbed him 14 times. Police arrested Lindberg and charged him with wielding the knife. Domenic Christopher, who was 17 at the time of the slaying, admitted to being at the crime scene. He was tried on murder charges, convicted and sentenced in May to 25 years to life.

In another motion being considered by Fitzgerald, prosecutors seek to introduce evidence showing that Lindberg nearly strangled a Vietnamese American inmate while being held at the County Jail. The jailhouse attack could help the prosecution prove that racial hatred was involved in the killing of Ly.