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Authorities in San Francisco now believe that a gambling debt could be the motive for a brutal quintuple murder that occurred in the Ingleside district Friday morning (March 23, 2012).
Police arrested 35-year-old Binh Thai Luc and charged him with five counts of murder. They claim he has “prior ties” to a Vietnamese street gang. A brother of the suspect, Brian Luc, was taken into custody for unrelated charges for narcotics violations, according to a press release from law enforcement. Both lived together in San Francisco.
Five family members, three adult women and two adult males, were discovered at 7:45 am Friday morning inside the first block of Howth Street, near City College. An adult daughter of one of the slain individuals is said to have discovered the bodies.
The carnage was so severe that police had not determined whether the victims were shot, stabbed or killed in another way. Police Chief Greg Suhr told the San Francisco Chronicle that all the victims died of blunt trauma and that "an edged weapon ... that can cut someone" was used. Initially, investigators looked at the possibility of a murder-suicide.
The victims names were not yet released as of Monday afternoon, however, neighbors told local media that all five were related and had immigrated from China.
From SFist.com:
They were a couple in their 60s (including, most probably, the homeowner listed for the property, 65-year-old father Hua Shun Lei), two adult children including 37-year-old Yingxue "Jess" Lei, a software engineer; and her 32-year-old brother; as well as a woman "in her 30s" who appears to have been the brother's girlfriend.
One neighbor reported Friday that she heard shots fired while having breakfast, however another neighbor, Miriam Mendoza-Moody, told KTVU that she heard yelling around midnight the night before, "some very loud male-voice person arguing or yelling." She added, "It was discomforting, and my dog became agitated."
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
