Four years later, killing of 7 people at Riverside County weed grow tied to San Diego gang

Four years later, detectives are still working to solve the killing of seven people at an illegal cannabis grow in rural Riverside County  — announcing three people of interest Friday who are believed to be members of a San Diego-area gang. 

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said three individuals have been identified by investigators following up on hundreds of leads over the years since the deadly shootings at a remote property in the desert on Sept. 7, 2020.  Authorities have said all the victims were all of Laotian descent and may have been human trafficking victims working at the property under forced labor conditions.

"We do believe this is a human trafficking incident where they were brought here just to work at this marijuana grow, and so they were there solely for that purpose," Bianco told reporters Friday, saying some victims were directly from Laos while others were individuals of Laotian descent who had been living in other parts of California. 

The victims killed have been identified by Riverside County sheriff's officials as five women and two men, including Vikham Silimanotham, 64; Khamtoune Silimanotham, 59; Phone Chankhamany, 54; Khampout Nanthavongdouangsy, 53; Thongpath Luangkoth, 47; Samantha Sourignask, 44; and Souphanh Pienthiene, 48.

But those identifications are not completely positive, Bianco said, as investigators have struggled to get in touch with family members of some of the victims.

Bianco said investigators believe a San Diego-area gang with members of Laotian descent may have targeted the grow, looking to steal large amounts of cash. All persons of interest are members of the gang, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, which said the gang has been accused of targeting other members of the Laotian community in Riverside and San Diego counties.

Investigators believe the killings in the summer of 2020 happened during a robbery of the property, located in the 45000 block of Highway 371 in Aguanga, a rural desert town in unincorporated Riverside County. While no cash was found at the scene, investigators found several hundred plants and more than 1,000 pounds of cannabis left behind, authorities said.

"On that day, several armed individuals stormed the residence in the unincorporated area of Aguanga while the victims were sleeping — in what we believe was a home invasion-type robbery of an illicit marijuana operation," Bianco said.

Detectives responding around 12:30 a.m. found a woman critically injured and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Soon after, they found another six people shot to death at the remote property. They were all pronounced dead at the scene. 

The woman later died from her injuries after being taken to a hospital.

Bianco said it's known to detectives, based on what they have found, there are people who know who is behind the killings. But potential witnesses have sometimes feared coming forward, making it hard for investigators to get new information, he said.

"They are very reluctant to come forward," Bianco said. "They are afraid of retribution."

He described the killings as "brutal" while he spoke to reporters Thursday, saying several people had managed to flee the property before seven people were fatally shot, all of them workers at the site and some killed as they slept. 

"The brutality of the Laotian gang really kind of sending a message," Bianco said. "I mean they were getting in and out as quickly as possible to steal money, and there were people there in their way. And they had no problem making sure there was no one in their way."

"If you can imagine, there's a lot of people in that house and they fled... When the gunshots started ringing out, they all fled," Bianco said of workers at the grow, which was located on a sprawling property with a trailer and other makeshift structures.

"To be perfectly honest and brutal with you, we have a deputy that is no longer with us because he couldn't get over the scene," Bianco said. "It was a brutal murder of people while they were sleeping or while they were being, you know, rustled from their sleep and trying to get away."

The site has been described by Riverside County authorities as an illegal cannabis grow, operating outside the state's regulations within its legality framework. Several other workers who survived the Sept. 7, 2020 killings have spoken with investigators.

"With the assistance of these survivors, other witnesses, and the records obtained, investigators believe there are at least three suspects involved in these murders," Riverside County Sheriff's Office Master Investigator Jarred Bishop said Friday. "Most of the victims were shot and killed as they slept. We know the suspects were at the location for at least 15 minutes."

A dark-colored mid-size SUV was identified by investigators as a suspect vehicle in the case. But on Friday, Riverside County authorities said that investigators later discovered the SUV had been involved in a collision and totaled after the fatal shootings. So the vehicle was never searched and investigated in the case.

Bianco said law enforcement agencies in neighboring San Diego County have been working with Riverside County investigators on the case. He alleged members of the gang may have learned about the illegal grow site through the local community.

"So for these Laotian gangs to learn about something in the community, in the Laotian community, of a marijuana grow or something like that — that would be relatively easy for them to find out," Bianco said.