Defendants Pared to 4 in Garden Grove Restaurant Killings

Just four defendants instead of six will face murder charges in a joint trial stemming from a 1985 shooting at a Vietnamese restaurant in Garden Grove that left two customers dead and four other people wounded.

Attorneys involved also said Monday at the first day of the Orange County Superior Court trial in Santa Ana that the number of defendants could soon be reduced to three.

Prosecutors permitted one defendant, Thanh Van Nguyen, 20, of Santa Ana, to plead guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter for a six-year sentence.

A second defendant, Hour Kheng Chour, 21, of Santa Ana, was granted a separate trial Monday, but his attorney said a dismissal has been agreed upon.

Charges May Be Dismissed

Prosecutors would not go so far as to confirm the defense attorney’s statement, but said it appears that Chour was not involved and that “in all probability” murder charges against him will be dismissed.

A plea bargain recently fell through for defendant Khanh Quang Nguyen, 20, of Costa Mesa, possibly because he refused to testify against the remaining defendants. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey L. Robinson said Khanh Nguyen may plead guilty to a lesser charge before testimony begins.

Thanh Nguyen admitted Monday in his guilty plea that he had been a lookout but said that he did not enter the restaurant.

Prosecutors said the shooting, at the My Nguyen Restaurant in the 14000 block of Brookhurst Street on Nov. 17, 1985, occurred because the leader of a Vietnamese gang--the Pomona Boys--became upset about the way another Vietnamese had looked at a woman who was with the gang members.

“The shots were just fired at random,” Robinson said.

The target of the attack, Quy Ngoc Nguyen, 25, of Long Beach, was killed as he stood near the cashier’s desk. Also killed was Minh Luu, 23, of Sunnymead in Riverside County. Among the four wounded were the restaurant manager and a busboy.

The three primary defendants are Hung Ly, 22, of Fountain Valley, called by prosecutors the leader who ordered the shootings; and Ninh Zuan Nguyen, 24, and Dat Tien Pham, 19, both of Santa Ana, who are accused as the actual triggermen.

But Robinson said he believes that at least one other person, and possibly two, fired shots. No one else has been arrested.

Role in Shootings Admitted

Pham has already admitted to police his role in the shootings, and prosecutors have several other witnesses to tie in the other two whom they consider “primary” defendants.

Even if charges are eventually dismissed against Chour, it will not mean his release. After the restaurant shooting, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a Long Beach incident and sentenced to four years in state prison. He is not eligible for release until January, 1990.

“He got a really sweet deal,” said one defense attorney involved. “These other guys are looking at (life without parole) or 70 years, and he walks away with six.”