Prosecutors charged a Lincoln couple Tuesday in the death of Arop Daljang, whose body was found in in March in Branched Oak Lake.
the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, April 30, 2007 7:00 pm
Prosecutors charged a Lincoln couple Tuesday in the death of Arop Daljang, whose body was found in in March in Branched Oak Lake.
Venh Lam, 40, 500 N. 23rd St., was charged with first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in Daljang’s death. Hue T. Thach, 38, was charged with accessory to murder.
Authorities Tuesday declined to discuss a possible motive for the killing. Lam and Daljang both worked for GT Exhaust Systems Inc. in Airpark.
Speaking through a Vietnamese interpreter at their arraignments Tuesday afternoon, Lam and Thach told Lancaster County Judge Jean Lovell they understood the charges, which also include five counts of felony child abuse against Lam and three counts of felony child abuse against Thach.
Lam, who was arrested in Seattle April 13 and returned to Lincoln Monday night, was being held in Lancaster County Jail Tuesday without bond. Thach was being held at the jail on a $1 million bond.
Lovell set both for preliminary hearings May 16.
A man looking for fishing lures along the north shoreline of Branched Oak saw Daljang’s body in the water shortly before 7 p.m. March 21.
Daljang was shoeless and his hands and feet apparently had been bound by duct tape.
Lancaster County Sheriff’s investigators searched Daljang’s residence, 1336 E St., Apt. 10, shortly after his body was discovered.
Authorities searched Lam and Thach’s North 23rd Street residence — a home they rent from Powerball winner Quang Dao — for several days last week.
Authorities Tuesday declined to offer details on how Lam was developed as a suspect.
According to Lancaster County Court papers, Lam told an investigator in an April 4 interview he did not have an association with Daljang except for work, and he denied ever being in Daljang’s apartment, having drinks or loaning him money.
Interviewed again April 10, Lam admitted to being in the apartment the week before the homicide, and to lending Daljang money and having a drink with him, according to the papers.
The papers, part of a charge of misdemeanor false reporting against Lam, stated Lam left Lincoln the day of the second interview and was, at the time, believed to be attempting to leave the U.S.
Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said Tuesday Lam apparently traveled to Mexico, re-entered the United States and went to Washington state. Lam may have intended to go to Canada or, possibly, Vietnam, Wagner said.
Wagner said he did not know why Lam re-entered the U.S. from Mexico.
Lam allegedly killed Daljang in the North 23rd Street home March 20, court papers alleged Tuesday.
According to the papers, Thach reportedly received a telephone call from Lam at her job that day, asking her to call his employer and say Lam needed to leave work because of a family emergency.
Lam, according to authorities, was looking for a reason to leave work so that he could dispose of the body. Thach made the call to GT Exhaust, according to the documents.
The following day, Thach paid a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old cash after they helped Lam dispose of the body, the records allege. Thach allegedly told the youths to not tell anyone about what they had done.
Lam had allegedly put Daljang’s body in a large trash can, but the children apparently did not realize the can’s contents until it was emptied at the lake. Both children watched as Lam dumped the body in the lake, the documents allege.
Family members told investigators they saw a large, dark stain on a carpet in the home that Lam was unable to clean. According to the documents, he removed the carpet March 24 and replaced it April 5.
If convicted on the murder charge, Lam could receive the death penalty or life in prison. The weapons charge includes a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Thach could receive up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the accessory charge.
The child abuse charges against the couple generally allege they placed the children in situations that endangered their physical or mental health. The charges include maximum prison sentences of five years.
Lam and Thach have three children. They are in the care of state Health and Human Services, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Reach Clarence Mabin at 473-7234 or cmabin@journalstar.com.