FBI offers reward for info on Chinatown slays
‘Ruthless execution-style’ murders happened 30 years ago at illegal gambling den
The FBI is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a fugitive who’s tied to the “ruthless execution-style” murders of five men 30 years ago at a Chinatown social club.
Hung Tien Pham, who is now 60 years old, is wanted for “one of the bloodiest massacres” in the city’s history, the head of the FBI Boston Division said on Tuesday, which was the 30-year anniversary of the quintuple homicide.
“It is with heavy hearts that we mark today’s anniversary of one of the bloodiest massacres in Boston’s history,” Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said at the division’s Chelsea headquarters on Tuesday.
“Today, we are renewing our call for the public’s assistance in locating longtime fugitive Hung Tien Pham, who is wanted for his alleged role in the ruthless execution-style murders of five men at a Chinatown social club,” he added.
Pham — at about 4 a.m. on Jan. 12, 1991 — is accused of entering an illegal gambling den located at 85A Tyler St. in Boston and shooting six men in the back of the head while they were playing cards.
One of the six men who was shot survived, and he later identified Pham along with two others as the shooters. Less than a week later, Pham was indicted by a grand jury in Suffolk County Superior Court on five counts of murder, one count of armed assault with intent to murder, one count of conspiracy, and one count of carrying a firearm without a license.
Following the massacre, Pham allegedly left his two children and their mother and he drove to Atlantic City, N.J., to gamble and then to New York City where he boarded a flight for Hong Kong. A federal arrest warrant was then issued for Pham by a U.S. magistrate judge in the district of Massachusetts, charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for murder.
“We know this crime has haunted the Chinatown community for decades, and we hope this renewed effort will produce real results that might give the victims’ families — who have already suffered so much heartache — some much-needed closure,” Bonavolonta said.
The other two shooters, Nam The Tham and Siny Van Tran, were arrested in China after a decade-long international manhunt. In 2005, Tham and Tran were convicted of murder in Suffolk County Superior Court, and they’re currently serving five consecutive life sentences.
Pham’s last known location was Bangkok, Thailand, in the mid-tolate 1990s.
Investigators have determined that Pham was a major associate of Asian organized crime, specifically the Ping On crime syndicate, operating in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Toronto.
The reward of up to $30,000 is for anyone who can provide information leading to Pham’s capture and conviction, the FBI said.