Man Gets 5 Life Sentences For 2012 San Francisco Quintuple Slaying
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A man convicted of murdering five people at a home in San Francisco's Ingleside neighborhood in 2012 was sentenced to five consecutive life terms in prison Thursday.
"You have finally been held accountable," San Francisco Superior Court Judge Carol Yaggy told 41-year-old Binh Thai Luc. "You can no longer terrorize our community."
Yaggy described Luc's actions as vicious and unspeakably cruel when he fatally stabbed, beat and choked 32-year-old Vincent Lei, 65-year-old Hua Shun Lei, 62-year-old Wan Yi Xu, 30-year-old Chia Huei Chu and 37-year-old Ying Xue Lei at 16 Howth St., near City College of San Francisco, on March 12, 2012.
The victims were all related. They were found around 7:45 a.m. the following morning when Vincent Lei's sister, Nicole Lei, stopped by so her daughter could pick up something for school.
She wrote a victim impact statement, which was read aloud in court this morning saying, "The pain is still in my heart and it will be with me for the rest of my life."
Defense attorney Mark Goldrosen voiced an objection to the consecutive sentences, as opposed to concurrent, but the judge felt consecutive sentences were appropriate given the circumstances of the case and District Attorney George Gascon agreed.
"This was a horrendous crime," Gascon said today. "Five people lost their lives, but we at least have some consolation that there is accountability that is going to be taking place."
"This individual slaughtered an entire family and we feel this was the appropriate sentence," Gascon added. "This person should never be allowed outside again."
In addition to five counts of first-degree murder, Luc was also found guilty in December of five counts of robbery and two counts of burglary.
He was in possession of roughly $6,500 cash at the time of his arrest, and prosecutors were able to show that he had barely over $1 in his bank account on the day of the murders, but was able to give his mother $1,000 in cash that night.
Luc is a Vietnamese citizen. Immigration officials had previously taken him into custody and a judge had ordered his removal from the U.S. in 2006, but the Vietnamese government declined to provide the documents that would be necessary to do so and he was ultimately released after 180 days.
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