Thien Minh Ly was brutally murdered seven years ago today.
Another Senseless Hate Crime
By Mai Pham
USENET Posting
April 8, 1996
Tragedy befell the Vietnamese community on Jan 29, 1996, when Thien Minh Ly, a 24-year
old Vietnamese man and former graduate of UCLA, was murdered while rollerblading
in his Tustin hometown high school tennis court. Ly was found lying in a pool of
blood the following morning by a janitor, maimed by an excessive number of stabbing
wounds to various parts of his body, as well as slashing wounds to his throat.
In the immediate aftermath of his death, friends, family, and acquaintances could
not fathom the senselessness of the crime that ended Ly's life. All who knew him
remembered him with love, respect, and admiration. A man of exemplary integrity,
intelligence, confidence and spirit, Ly embodied the model Vietnamese American. He
was a dutiful and loving son to his parents, a beloved older brother to his younger
siblings, and a friend that one could always count on in times of need. He was an
academic in endless pursuit of knowledge: at UCLA, he obtained both an English and
a Biology degree in four years, had just completed a Master's in Physiology and Biophysics
at Georgetown, and was contemplating the study of Law just before his death. While
at UCLA, Thien was a leader. He wholeheartedly dedicated himself to the UCLA Vietnamese
Students' Association (VSA) as VSA's Culture Night Director, VSA's newsletter editor,
and finally, at the height of his VSA involvement, as VSA President '92-'93.
Hundreds attended the candlelight vigil held for him the same week he was murdered.
An article about his death hangs in the UCLA English counseling office. Flowers from
all over the VN community overflowed the mortuary during his viewing and funeral.
Tears flowed endlessly for Thien; his was a loss mourned by all.
It was not until March 2, 1996 that the mystery surrounding Ly's murder ended. That
day, police arrested Gunner Lindberg, age 21, and Dominic Christopher, age 17, after
discovering a letter that Lindberg had written to a former prison inmate in New Mexico.
The letter contained graphic details about the murder, as well as the writer's apparent
insoucience about the whole incident. Sandwiched between birthday plans, news about
a friend's baby, and talk about the need for a new tattoo was this boastful account
of what happened the night of Jan 29th:
"Oh I killed a jap a while ago I stabbed him to Death at Tustin High school
I walked up to him Dominic was with me and I seen this guy Roller blading and I had
a knife. WE walk in the tennis court where he was I walked up to him. Dominic was
right there I walked right up to him and he was scared I looked at him and said 'Oh
I thought I knew you' and he got happy that he wasn't gona get jumped. Then I hit
him..."
"I pulled the knife out a butcher knife and he said 'no' then I put the knife
to his throught and asked him Do you have a car. And he grabed my hand that I had
the knife in and looked at me, trying to get a description of me so I stomped on
his head 3 times and each time said 'Stop loooking at me' then he was kinda knocked
out Dazzed then I stabbed him in the side about 7 or 8 times he rolled over a little
so I stabbed his back out 18 or 19 times then he layed flat and I slit one side of
his throught on his jugular vain. Oh, the sounds the guy was making were like Uhhh.
then Dominic said 'do it again ' and I said 'I already Did. Dude. "Ya, Do it
again' so I cut his other juggular vain, and Dominic said "Kill him Do it again'
and I said 'he's already Dead' Dominic Said 'Stab him in the heart' So I stabbed
him about 20 or 21 times in the heart..."
"Then I wanted to go back and look, so we Did and he was dieing just then taking
in some bloody gasps of air so I nidged his face with my shoe a few times, then i
told Dominic to kick him, so he kicked the f--- out of his face and he still has
blood on his Shoes all over...then I ditched the knife, after whiping it clean onto
the side of the 5 freeway...here's the clippings from the newspaper we were on all
the channels." (LA. Times, Orange County, "Grisly Account of Ly Killing
Believed Penned by Suspect," 3/7/96)
Since the time of arrest, both parties have confessed their part in the murder. The
original arraignment date was set for March 22, 1996 for Lindberg, but has been pushed
back to April 19, 1996. Likewise, Christopher's arraignment has been pushed back
twice. It is not known yet whether Christopher will be tried as an adult.
Was there racial motivation behind the crime? White supremecist paraphernalia were
found at Lindberg's and Christopher's home. Lindberg carelessly referred to Ly as
a "jap" in the letter he wrote to his friend. Yet Lindberg staunchly denies
a racial motive. The Tustin police, too, seem reluctant to publicize the racial implications
of the crime. For instance, the Tustin Weekly omitted the words "I killed a
jap" in their rendition of Lindberg's letter (Tustin Weekly, "Graphic death
scene details described," 3/8/96) Furthermore, both the Tustin Weekly and the
LA Times have stated that the police attribute robbery as the motive for Ly's murder.
In light of this information, the inference that can be made is obvious. Racial motivation
undoubtedly played a part in the murder. For how could Gunner Lindberg and Dominic
Christopher so easily, blithely, and violently kill Thien Minh Ly if they respected
him as a human being? They "stomped" on him with about as much thought
as they would step on an ant. They listened to his cries of pain and torture with
sadistic delight. They continually attacked him when he was already helpless, and
then, to add further insult to the injury, Christopher kicked Ly's bleeding face.
To the two murderers, Thien was nothing but a "jap," a sub-human organism
whose life they had a right to take.
But what did Thien mean to those who loved him; how did they feel? They are heart-broken,
bereft, angry that his death was caused by an unnecessary, random act of violence.
And what about the Vietnamese Community? News about Ly's murder and the ensuing arrest
of his two assailants have horrified and enraged the Vietnamese community in Orange
county, so much so that the Vietnaese Community of Orange County (VNCOC), a non-profit
human and social services group, and various other organizations throughout the VN
community in Orange county, joined under the name of the Thien Minh Ly Ad Hoc Committee.
Their purpose is to ensure that the murderers receive just punishment for taking
Ly's life.
A candlelight vigil was held April 6, 1996 by the Council of Asian Pacific Americans
of Orange County to raise awareness about violence against Asian-Americans; one of
the people being honored was Thien Minh Ly.
WE must preserve Thien Minh Ly's name in order to remind others that no one is safe
in the U.S while ignorance and racial hate run rampant. WE must strive to become
more aware of the dangers facing Asain-Americans in present day American society
adn educate others that all our cultures are beautiful. WE must cry out that a tragedy
such as this could happen and work to teach everyone to respect all of humanity.
Thien Remembered as Role Model
By Mai Pham
The Daily Bruin
February 2, 1996
Tears streamed down my face upon hearing my English professor quote from
Boethius: "The desire to do evil may be due to human weakness; but for the
wicked to overcome the innocent in the sight of God - that is monstrous ... If
there is a God, why is there evil? And if there is no God, how can there be
good?"
These questions still ring in my head when I think about Thien Minh Ly, a
1994 UCLA graduate and a very dear friend of mine who was mercilessly stabbed
more than a dozen times before he died this past weekend in Tustin. His body was
found immersed in a pool of blood on a Tustin High School tennis court by a
janitor earlier this week.
All who were close to him are bereft with sorrow; struggling with the mystery
of the heinous crime that cut short a life so full of promise. No one knows why
Thien was killed so brutally, but friends and family know why he should have
lived.
I can still hear the distinctive quality of Thien's voice encouraging me,
joking with me, philosophizing about life, giving me advice or asking my
opinion. In many ways, I aspired to be what he embodied: a confident,
determined, intelligent, and outgoing Vietnamese American whose unquestioned
integrity and leadership abilities made him an outstanding role model.
In high school, Thien was a junior varsity tennis player as well as an honors
student graduating with a 4.53 GPA. At UCLA, he completed his double major in
English and biology in four years. (He later went to Georgetown University where
he earned a master's degree in physiology and biophysics in one year.) Amid this
rigorous coursework, Thien involved himself in extracurricular passions.
While at UCLA, he immersed himself in the Vietnamese Students' Association,
was truly proud of his ancestral heritage and wished to inspire such pride in
his Vietnamese peers.
Since he loved to read and write, Thien took the first initiative in 1992 to
start a Vietnamese Students' Association newsletter - Lien Lac - and became its
chief editor. Without his commitment to its production, the newsletter has
ceased to exist. In addition, Thien also served as director of the annual
Vietnamese Students' Association Culture Night.
In 1993, he became the UCLA Vietnamese Students' Association president. As
president, he took special care to make the acquaintance of every member, made a
point to reach out to incoming freshmen, frequently offering himself as advisor,
mentor and friend.
For the past three nights, all of Thien's friends and I have gotten together,
mutually grieving his loss, reminiscing about the wonderful times spent with
him, racking our brains for answers about his death.
We don't know why you had to die, Thien, but we love you and miss you. We
remember those many happy midnight excursions to Santa Monica beach when we sang
love songs in Vietnamese. We remember that you were the one we could go to
whenever we had problems, especially when we needed guidance and support about
what to do with our lives.
We remember campfire stories and hiking and swimming across that freezing
cold river in Yosemite. We even remember that year you decided to shave your
head and how it looked kind of funny while you waited for your hair to grow
back. There are so many good times, so many memories.
We especially remember that you promised to be our friend forever. What will
happen to that 10-year reunion we planned on having, Thien, when we pull out
those Lien Lac letters that you put together?
Thien wanted to publish an anthology of poetry one day, and loved to read and
write. I would like to dedicate these lines from Yeat's "Easter 1916"
to him:
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought ...
He ... has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty was born.
Thien, too, was on the verge of "coming into his force" when he
died, having completed his studies and about to embark into the working world.
"He might have won fame in the end," as his potential for becoming a
future leader of Vietnamese Americans was evident. All who know him attest to
the fact that he was "so sensitive," and "so daring and
sweet." But this violent act has prematurely ended his life, Thien
"has been changed ... transformed utterly." In the tragedy that is his
death, "A terrible beauty was born," the beauty of spirit and soul.
