Face of Nation : Tu Luong, 35, died after he was beaten with poles and stabbed multiple times with a hunting knife on a footpath in Villawood on December 6, 2015. Minh Duc Trinh, 43, Jason Hoang, 38, Abdul Feroz, 35, Tony William Ho, 41, Voung Van Nguyen, 42, and Jason Pham, 41, pleaded not guilty to his murder in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.
A Sydney man brutally attacked over a drug debt begged for mercy in his final moments, the jury in a murder trial involving six accused men has been told. In his opening address, prosecutor Lou Lungo said the Crown contended the six men were part of a joint criminal enterprise that resulted in Mr Luong’s death.
But Ho became concerned when he couldn’t contact Mr Luong after selling him the drugs and even more concerned when Trinh contacted him about the sale, the prosecutor alleged. Mr Lungo said the jury could expect to hear evidence that Pham was then called in to “lure” Mr Luong to a location.
He allegedly had a woman call and tell Mr Luong she had heroin he could swap for ice. When Mr Luong arrived he was told to sit in the rear driver’s side of the car, which couldn’t be opened from the inside, the prosecutor said. Mr Luong was then driven to a street in Villawood, where Pham and Trinh met up with the other four accused.
Mr Luong was dragged out of the car and onto the footpath where four of the men allegedly seriously assaulted him. Two were armed with poles, while Hoang allegedly used a hunting knife to stab Mr Luong multiple times, including the fatal blow to his chest.
A witness is expected to tell the jury that as the men attacked Mr Luong he screamed out “no stop Tony, please stop”. As the six men fled the scene Feroz allegedly asked Hoang “what the f*** did you stab him for?” – to which there was no reply. Hoang would later tell another man that he had been “aiming for his dick”, the court was told.
