Convicted of murdering 2 Vietnamese tour guides in Las Vegas in 2018

(CLO) A jury has convicted a man of breaking into a room at a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino and robbing and killing two Vietnamese tour guides in June 2018.

Julius Damiano Deangilo Trotter stood with his attorneys, shaking his head and glancing at the jury several times as the verdict was read Tuesday (Oct. 29) in Clark County Circuit Court, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Julius Trotter was convicted at a trial in Las Vegas, USA on October 29, 2024. Photo: AP

Trotter, 37, could face the death penalty or life in prison after being convicted of murder, burglary and armed robbery. He was convicted of stabbing to death two Vietnamese men, Nghia Boi Sang, 38, and Nguyen Le Ba Khuong, 30, at the Circus Circus Hotel.

The jury began hearing testimony and evidence on Tuesday in the sentencing phase of the trial. The jury deliberated for about three hours after hearing evidence and testimony over about two weeks, the Review-Journal reported.

The indictment said that Ms. Nghia Boi Sang owned a travel business with her husband in Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Le Ba Khuong was Ms. Sang's employee.

Their bodies were found on June 1, 2018, after they failed to show up for a tour group trip. Police said hotel staff later determined that the lock on their room door was not working properly.

Ms. Le Thi Bong, mother of victim Nguyen Le Ba Khuong, cries at the trial of Julius Trotter in Las Vegas, USA on October 29, 2024. Photo: AP

Trotter was identified as a murder suspect before he and his girlfriend, Itaska Dean, were arrested about a week later, following a police chase in Chino, California.

Trotter was serving a five-year probation sentence at the time after pleading guilty to resisting police with a weapon. He was held in Las Vegas while awaiting trial, which was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pretrial litigation.

Dean's girlfriend pleaded guilty in California to evading arrest. She was not charged with any crime in the murder, and testified at Trotter's trial.

Prosecutor Michelle Fleck called Sang and Khuong "completely innocent people" who did nothing to deserve murder, the Review-Journal reported.

Bui Huy (according to Review-Journal, AP, ABC News)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ket-toi-ke-sat-hai-2-huong-dan-vien-nguoi-viet-nam-o-las-vegas-hoi-nam-2018-post319101.html