Theos-Talk Archives (March 2004 Message tt00544)

This may be off-topic, if so, I apologize.
There is a sizable Vietnamese refugee community in Oklahoma City. Many of 
these people, including the two young men involved, underwent horrendous 
refugee camp experiences in Southeast Asia. I believe the murderer was a 
Vietnamese citizen still.
I also believe the Vietnamese government no longer practices capital 
punishment, but I could be wrong. The Vietnamese government did ask clemency 
stating unusual circumstances, i.e. the years of abusive camp existence the 
murderer endured in his youth.
The irony to me is immense.


Vietnamese man denied final stay
2004-03-24
By Jack Money
The Oklahoman


McALESTER — After two stays and protests from the Vietnamese government, 
convicted killer Hung Thanh Le died by lethal injection Tuesday.
Le, 37, died at 6:04 p.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary for the 1992 
stabbing death of Hai Hong Nguyen, 34, in the victim’s Oklahoma City home.

“I wish I could take back the things I have done, but it is impossible,” 
said Le, moments before he died. “We all have made mistakes. I am deeply 
sorry to have caused grief.” Nguyen was stabbed and hacked multiple times 
Nov. 12, 1992, with a butcher knife and meat cleaver in his home in the 2900 
block of N Military Ave. Le was Hai Hong Nguyen’s house guest at the time.

Prosecutors said the victim’s wife witnessed the attack, and noted that Le 
stopped the attack at one point and demanded $20,000 from her or he would 
continue stabbing her husband.

Although Nguyen’s wife was cut in the attack, she was able to flee the house 
and survive.

Before his execution, Le said: “I hope she (Thuy Nguyen, Hai Hong Nguyen’s 
wife) is doing better ... and can put hatred from her vocabulary.”

Prosecutors said Le stole the victim’s car after killing him and went to a 
local bank, where he used the victim’s identification to take $36,000 from a 
safe deposit box. Le used some of the money to buy a new suit and pay for a 
hotel room that night, prosecutors said.

They claim Le went to the horse races at Remington Park the next day before 
buying a first-class airplane ticket and trying to leave Oklahoma City.

Police, who had been supplied with Le’s photo, arrested him at Will Rogers 
World Airport as he was trying to leave. Le’s last meal, like the one he ate 
before his previously scheduled execution, was dragon soup, two egg rolls, 
hunan beef and fried rice, all ordered from a local restaurant.

A clemency packet prepared for Gov. Brad Henry by the state Pardon and 
Parole Board said both Le and Nguyen knew one another from the days when 
they were fleeing Vietnam, staying in refugee camps in Cambodia and 
Thailand.

Le’s father was the victim’s godfather. The documents say Le and his victim 
had intended to go into business together. However, the deal fell apart, and 
that’s when Le demanded money from his victim.

After the execution, Hung Nguyen, the executed man’s brother-in-law, said he 
hoped the two families could find a way to put the past behind them.

“I hope we can heal,” he said.

Le was scheduled to die twice before. Henry issued one stay before a planned 
Jan. 6 execution after the parole board recommended clemency.

Henry set a new execution date of Feb. 26 after declining the board’s 
recommendation.

However, he issued another stay within an hour of the execution after the 
Vietnamese government asked for more time to review the case.

Tuesday, Le’s attorney asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for a 
stay, saying he didn’t receive adequate defense during trial. Appeals court 
members refused the request later in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, clemency supporters held another rally Tuesday at the state 
Capitol, hoping to convince Henry that Le’s life should be spared.

About 80 death penalty opponents gathered on the steps of the Capitol at 
noon to protest the execution. “The death penalty is vengeance,” said Bud 
Welch, president of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation. Welch is the 
father of Julie Welch who was killed in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah 
Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Death penalty opponents gathered in front of the Governor’s Mansion later in 
the day.

Le is the 73rd inmate executed since Oklahoma resumed executions in 1990. He 
is the fourth to be executed this year.

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