Alhambra: October 2008 Archives

This comes from a Sheriff's Department bulletin issued this afternoon:

On October 21, 2008 (Tuesday) at 1400 hours, Victim Luciano Brash was shot at a home in Alhambra. His body was then dropped off at the Pacific Orthopedic Medical Center, 707 S. Garfield Avenue, Alhambra. The suspects should be considered ARMED AND DANGEROUS. Investigators are seeking the public's assistance, and asking anyone with information to contact Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

Here's the photos:

Sheriff's detectives identify this man as Scott Young Kim. A 37-year-old male Asian. He is wanted in connection with the Brash homicide. It's believed he was the shooter.

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Sheriff's detectives identify this man as Samuel Patrick Groft, a 28-year-old male white. He is also wanted in connection with the Brash homicide. he is believed to be one of two men seen in a videotape dropping Brash's body on the floor of an Alhambra medical clinic.

Here's a  videotape of two men dumping Brash's body in the reception area of an Alhambra medical clinic. There is also an alleged connection between the men and the Korean Mafia, officials said.

Here's a Wikipedia entry on the Korean mob and gangsters known as kkangpae.

Authorities announced an arrest in connection with a body dump at an Alhambra clinic. The dead man shown in the video below may have been connected to the Korean mafia, authorities said. Here's Nate McIntire's story:

Suspects have been identified in the slaying of a man whose body was dropped off at an Alhambra medical facility last week, authorities said.

The body of Luciano Teadoro Brash, 31, was brought by two men to the Pacific Orthopaedic & Medical Center on South Garfield Avenue last Tuesday. The incident was caught on tape by security cameras.

Brash was pronounced dead at the scene, and coroners determined his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Scott Kim, 37, whom detectives believe was the shooter. Arrest warrants have also been issued for Samuel Groft and Sam Lock Sui, the two men who allegedly carried Brash's body into the medical facility, according to Sheriff's Sgt. Alec MacArthur. Sui has been arrested and remains in custody, detectives said.

MacArthur said the suspects were "possibly in the Korean Mob." Brash may also be linked to the Korean mafia, according to Sheriff's Lt. Patrick Nelson.

"It appears that the victim himself may have had some connection with that," he said.

Brash has a criminal record and spent time in prison for felony robbery in the late 1990s, according to investigators.

Alhambra police and sheriff's homicide detectives are investigating a body dump near the intersection of Garfield and Mission, officials said.

Apparently a man drove up to a clinic near the intersection, dropped of a man with a bullet hole in his chest and fled. The man with the bullet hole in his chest was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives are reviewing a videotape of the incident.

This from the Associated Press, covering the Phil Spector murder trial downtown. Mr. Spector has a new hair-do for the occaision:

Jury selection for music producer Phil Spector's murder retrial began Monday.

About 80 prospects reported to court Monday and an initial group of 18 has been
chosen for questioning.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler asked the nine men and nine women if they can be fair and impartial and follow his instructions.

Spector is charged with second-degree murder in the 2003 death of Lana Clarkson.

 

The 40-year-old actress died of a gunshot through the mouth while sitting in
the foyer of his Alhambra mansion.

Spector's first trial ended a year ago when jurors deadlocked 10-2, with the
majority favoring conviction. Spector's defense suggested Clarkson shot
herself.

Nate McIntire reports:

ALHAMBRA - A suspect in a 25-year-old murder investigation who once told police that his alleged victim fell on a knife is being extradited from Vietnam and is expected to return to the United States today, authorities said.

Members of an FBI task force will escort Vietnamese national Ninh Kim Nguyen, 52, back to the United States to face murder and robbery charges after he allegedly stabbed a woman to death in Alhambra in 1983.

"Soon after the investigation began, he became the prime suspect," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Detective Joe Romero said.

Nguyen, who is also a convicted rapist, fled the country after being charged with murder a week after Khuyen Thi Bui, 38, was found by her son in her North Fifth Street apartment with a kitchen knife sticking out of her throat.

Nguyen was a friend of the victim and was arranging to assist her in the sale of $30,000 worth of jewelry before her death, according to authorities.

"At the time of the murder, Nguyen was allegedly trying to defraud the victim in a scheme involving diamonds, with which he allegedly absconded before he fled the United States," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller wrote in a statement.

 

I got a call this morning from a man who identified himself as Albert Lee of San Francisco.

Lee said he is the boyfriend of an Alhambra woman who was shot in the face Sunday night at a home in the 800 block of Garfield Avenue.

He told me he was attempting to contact the Alhambra police department after reading about his girlfriend on the Internet.

"I always call her, she wanted me to call her," Lee said. "I wanted to tell her that I found a house for us in El Monte."

Lee said the woman had been beaten outside the Staples store in Alhambra about 30 days ago by four men. That case remains open, Lee said.

He did not know whay the woman was targeted.

Here's a section of the Pasadena Star-News story that appears online:

The woman was shot once in the face and once in leg, and she is currently recovering at a hospital, according to Det. Kevin Laing.

"She was shot somewhere near her front porch area of her residence," Sgt. Kean Oda said. "That's the only other information that we know."

There are currently no suspects, and Laing said he expects the woman to survive.

"We're waiting for her to wake up," said Laing.

The woman is in stable condition and detectives hope to interview her tomorrow, Oda said. Police will not release the woman's name until she is interviewed, he said.