Son Testifies Against Gang Just Days After Father Slain

The father of a gang member-turned-state’s-evidence was gunned down over the weekend in what investigators say was revenge or intimidation, but the son, Truong Dinh, testified in Van Nuys as scheduled Monday against the notorious Asian Boyz street gang.

Dong Dinh, 64, answered the door at his north San Jose home Friday night and was shot to death execution-style by an unknown assailant. Police said there were no witnesses.

The son, 23, is the key witness in the murder trial of seven alleged members of the feared street gang, all charged with murder, with five facing the death penalty in 25 killings and attempts. The last murder prosecution of Asian Boyz members was derailed after the key witness--also a former gang member--was slain the day before the trial was to begin.

While Los Angeles police have been closely guarding Truong Dinh, Dinh’s family had no protection. San Jose police said they had not been told of his role in the prosecution or the potential danger to his family.

“We did not have any protective measures in place at that time,” said San Jose Police Department spokesman Louis Quezada. “We had no idea that this trial was going on.” He said the department has since begun protecting the family.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti declined to answer questions about the case, or confirm or deny the San Jose police statement. The trial opened in Van Nuys last month with tight security.

“We don’t let witnesses get killed. We’re in the business of prosecuting bad people and protecting innocent victims,” spokeswoman Victoria Pipkin said. “I do want to make very clear that we take steps to protect our witnesses. I cannot discuss the details of this particular witness.”

“It’s extremely frustrating knowing that you’re up against an organization that has no moral fiber and that will do anything to discourage participation in the criminal justice system that protects all of us,” said San Jose Police Sgt. Gary Kirvy.

For nearly two weeks, the victim’s son has told jurors about gang killings, including an ambush on a rival gang and a series of running gun battles on freeways and city streets. Standing trial are Son Thanh Bui, David Evangalista, who was a college honors student, Bunthoeun Roeung, Sothi Menh, Roatha Buth, Kimorn Nuth and Ky Tony Ngo. They are the alleged leaders of the Van Nuys faction of the Asian Boyz.

On the first day of testimony, Los Angeles police officers wearing riot gear lined the courthouse and Dinh was ushered in and out of the courtroom by armed detectives. Security outside the building had waned in the days that followed but was beefed up Monday.

Dinh’s murder is the second case in which the extremely violent Van Nuys gang is suspected of trying to derail a prosecution.

On March 23, 1996, the day before two Asian Boyz were to begin trial for murder, another gang member-turned witness was gunned down outside his home. The killing crippled the prosecution’s case because his testimony had not been preserved. Authorities said they were forced to strike a plea deal with the men, reducing the charges to manslaughter.

It was that murder that eventually prompted authorities to target the gang. By then, police said the Asian Boyz had committed 13 murders and dozens of attempted murders, assaults, robberies and home-invasion robberies in a one-year reign of terror that began in April 1995. The majority of the violent crimes filled that summer, when the defendants’ ages ranged from 14 to 22.

Kirvy flew to Los Angeles on Monday night to review investigators’ Asian Boyz files and search for leads on the San Jose investigation. He said the elder Dinh was shot several times in the upper torso while other relatives were at home.

Kirvy said Dinh’s killer said nothing and opened fire as soon as the retiree opened the door.

On Monday, relatives shuffled in and out of Dinh’s two-story home in a neat middle-class north San Jose neighborhood. Half a dozen luxury cars were parked outside. Half a block away, undercover detectives watched the home from a truck.

The victim’s family members said the police ordered them not to speak to the media. Neighbors also declined to answer reporters’ questions.

One said that the victim was a quiet man who liked to tend to his flower garden. The 22-year-old neighbor said she did not hear the shooting.

“We were shocked. It’s not the kind of thing that happens around here,” she said.

Quezada, the police spokesman, agreed, pointing out that only 27 people have been killed in the city this year, fewer than half a dozen of them the victims of gang violence.

Authorities said there is a small faction of the Asian Boyz gang in San Jose.

The gang, which is composed of Cambodian, Vietnamese and Filipino members, was founded in Long Beach in the 1980s, but boasts hundreds of members around the country, authorities said.

In Los Angeles, authorities confiscated the defendants’ property in jail after the weekend slaying, sources said Monday.

Also Monday, a judge prohibited the defendants in the Los Angeles County crimes from having telephone conversations with anyone other than their lawyers.

“I wanted to make sure that there’s no messages going back and forth asking for witnesses to be killed. That was my concern,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Laura Baird said in open court during an afternoon hearing.

The Superior Court judge in the case, Darlene Schempp, has banned photographers and, in an unusual ruling, a court sketch artist hired by The Times.