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Friday, 06 March 2009 - A man accused
of throwing his four young children to their deaths from a bridge has
pleaded guilty, telling a judge he wanted to be put to death.
Lam Luong, 38, a Vietnamese refugee, entered the plea before Circuit
Judge Charles Graddick at a hearing in Mobile, Alabama on a
change-of-venue motion.
Luong made the plea in a letter he gave to the judge. Under Alabama law,
capital murder defendants must be tried before a jury even if they plead
guilty. Luong's trial starts on Monday.
Prosecutors claim Luong argued with his common-law wife, Kieu Ngoc Phan,
23, before he drove the family van to the top of the two-lane bridge on
January 7 last year and tossed the children into the Mississippi Sound
80 feet below.
The bodies of the children - Hannah Luong, two, Ryan Phan, three,
Lindsey Luong, one, and Danny Luong, four months - were recovered from
waters off the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana during a
search that involved hundreds of volunteers in aircraft, boats and on
foot.
Luong, who speaks Vietnamese, communicated with Judge Graddick through
an interpreter. Court-appointed defence lawyers have opposed his desire
to plead guilty, which he had expressed previously.
Although Luong has admitted guilt, the jury will make a recommendation
of either death or life in prison without parole. The judge is not bound
by the recommendation.
Luong moved to the US from Vietnam when he was 14. The family was living
near the fishing village of Bayou La Batre at the time of the deaths.
Kam Phengsisomboun, who has served as spokesman for the family of the
mother, said they had no comment. But he said last week that the death
penalty "would be too easy" for Luong.
US immigration records indicate that Luong, the son of a Vietnamese
woman and a US serviceman, gained legal permanent residence status as a
refugee, but never became a US citizen.
Source: pa.press.net
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