2003 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

March 12, 2003

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi announced that bail was set today at $1 million for Binh Thach, M/40, who is charged with two counts of Murder and one count of Attempted Murder in connection with a triple shooting in a Camden home on Monday, March 10, 2003.

Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Natal set the bail as requested by Assistant Prosecutor Mary Alison Albright. She told the court that the defendant is a flight risk because he is not an American citizen and has no job or other significant ties to the area. Adding to the flight risk, Albright said, is the fact the defendant faces up to life in prison on each Murder count and up to 20 years for Attempted Murder.

Thach turned himself in at Camden Police Headquarters at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 11, 2003. The .38-caliber handgun allegedly used in the crime was recovered. Thach and his victims all lived in the boarding home in the 2600 block of Cramer Street where the shootings occurred.

Killed were Son Do, M/31, and Tam Nguyen, M/35. Loan Nguyen, F/26, remains in critical condition at Cooper Medical Center. She is not related to Tam Nguyen.

The investigation indicates the shootings stemmed from an ongoing dispute between the defendant and other residents of the home. According to the investigation, Thach came to the United States approximately four years ago and lived in the Cramer Street house for approximately four months.

The case began when police responded to an emergency call at approximately 8 a.m. Monday reporting shots fired. Officers found the three victims inside a home in the 2600 block of Cramer Street in East Camden. Tam Nguyen was dead at the scene, and Son Do died a short time later at Cooper.

After finding the victims, officers discovered a small fire at the home, apparently set around the same time as the shootings. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, containing it to one room.

All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.