Viet gangster charged in murder of Viet witness

A 42-year-old Viet alleged gangster is among three people charged with murder in the death of a Vietnamese-American man who had witnessed a prior shooting, resulting in the conviction of this defendant’s brother, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer here.

Quy D. Nguyen, 42, of Seattle is facing multiple charges in the January 2007 killing of Hoang Nguyen. Also charged is another Viet, Le Nhu Le, 41, of Kent, Washington; as well as Jerry H. Thomas III, 23, of Algona.

Hoang Nguyen was shot outside his apartment complex in what investigators believe was a revenge-murder plot masterminded by Quy Nguyen.

Although he’s 42 years old, Quy Nguyen is believed to be the leader of the Young Seattle Boyz street gang. Quy Nguyen is also believed to be a drug lord, paying people to run houses where he grows marijuana.

Hoang Nguyen had been a witness in a double shooting in Seattle in July 2006. Quy Nguyen’s brother Diem Nguyen was convicted in the shooting and sentenced to nearly 40 years.

Investigators said a gunman approached Hoang Nguyen and his wife as they were getting out of their car. The gunman asked Hoang Nguyen to put the coffee cup he was holding on the ground. As he did so, the gunman shot him in the back of the head, the victim’s wife told detectives.

Hoang Nguyen had been very upset by the previous shooting, in which his best friend was one of the victim, his wife said. She said her husband tipped off police to the location of one of Quy Nguyen’s marijuana grows “to get back at Quy for the shooting,” the document said.

This was not the first attempt on Hoang Nguyen’s life. Just days after Hoang Nguyen’s appearance in court, a gunman attempted to kill him at a café, investigators said.

A gunman walked up to Hoang Nguyen with a handgun, aimed and fired, but the gun malfunctioned.

Police claims that Quy Nguyen told Le Nhu Le to go hire a co-worker to kill Hoang Nguyen. The gunman for hire is allegedly Thomas.