The Associated Press
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts
A woman who survived a 1995 gun and machete attack by her mother's boyfriend that killed her three brothers testified Wednesday at the retrial of Cambodian refugee Vuthy Seng.
Sathy Men, who was 14 at the time of attack at their home in Lowell, Massachusetts, said Seng — the man she knew as Uncle Tee — told them to be still and let him shoot them. Men said she hid under a blanket when he started firing from a .22-caliber handgun.
Sathy Men, now 25 and also from Cambodia, methodically described the attack under questioning from prosecutors in the retrial of Seng, who is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Men's brothers: Visal, 15, Virak, 12, and Sovanna, 9.
The boys died of their wounds in their head the week after the attack. Sathy Men said she was also shot in the head by the man who used to live with them but had been asked to leave by her mother.
Sathy Men remained mostly composed as she went through the details of the attacks.
She described how her brother Visal, after being shot in the head, tried to escape by crawling from the living room into the kitchen toward the front door. But Seng walked into the kitchen and stepped on his back, she said. She tried to help by kicking Seng in the back, she testified.
Seng fell, and the handgun went across the kitchen floor. She tried to get out the kitchen door herself, but before she could unlock it, Seng hit her on both hands with the butt of the gun. She ran again and tried to shut the door behind her, but Seng followed and hit her on the head with the gun, she said.
At this point, Visal opened a door to try to leave and Seng turned his attention away from Sathy and shot Visal a second time, in the head, she said.
Then, "he went and got the knife," she said.
Assistant District Attorney Tom O'Reilly then asked if she saw the knife strike her brother. "Yes," she said.
Sathy Men conceded under cross-examination that she did not like Seng and did not want him as a stepfather. She said she ultimately escaped the attack by kicking out a screen and jumping out a first-floor window.
Men did not make eye contact with Seng, who was seated at the defense table listening to the testimony through a Khmer translator. Men was expected to continue on the stand Thursday.
Seng was convicted in 1997 of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.
At the first trial, Seng's attorneys conceded he shot the children, but said he should not be held criminally responsible because he was a "destitute and broken" man who was hearing voices. Prosecutors said the murders came after Seng had a falling out with the children's mother, Chhong Yim, and she insisted he move out despite his pleas to stay.
In 2002, the state Supreme Judicial Court overturned Seng's conviction and ordered a new trial. The court ruled that a Khmer translation of his constitutional rights against self-incrimination, which were also delivered in English, were deficient and did not even inform him of his right to remain silent.
A woman who survived a 1995 gun and machete attack by her mother's boyfriend that killed her three brothers testified Wednesday at the retrial of Cambodian refugee Vuthy Seng.
Sathy Men, who was 14 at the time of attack at their home in Lowell, Massachusetts, said Seng — the man she knew as Uncle Tee — told them to be still and let him shoot them. Men said she hid under a blanket when he started firing from a .22-caliber handgun.
Sathy Men, now 25 and also from Cambodia, methodically described the attack under questioning from prosecutors in the retrial of Seng, who is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Men's brothers: Visal, 15, Virak, 12, and Sovanna, 9.
The boys died of their wounds in their head the week after the attack. Sathy Men said she was also shot in the head by the man who used to live with them but had been asked to leave by her mother.
Sathy Men remained mostly composed as she went through the details of the attacks.
She described how her brother Visal, after being shot in the head, tried to escape by crawling from the living room into the kitchen toward the front door. But Seng walked into the kitchen and stepped on his back, she said. She tried to help by kicking Seng in the back, she testified.
Seng fell, and the handgun went across the kitchen floor. She tried to get out the kitchen door herself, but before she could unlock it, Seng hit her on both hands with the butt of the gun. She ran again and tried to shut the door behind her, but Seng followed and hit her on the head with the gun, she said.
At this point, Visal opened a door to try to leave and Seng turned his attention away from Sathy and shot Visal a second time, in the head, she said.
Then, "he went and got the knife," she said.
Assistant District Attorney Tom O'Reilly then asked if she saw the knife strike her brother. "Yes," she said.
Sathy Men conceded under cross-examination that she did not like Seng and did not want him as a stepfather. She said she ultimately escaped the attack by kicking out a screen and jumping out a first-floor window.
Men did not make eye contact with Seng, who was seated at the defense table listening to the testimony through a Khmer translator. Men was expected to continue on the stand Thursday.
Seng was convicted in 1997 of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.
At the first trial, Seng's attorneys conceded he shot the children, but said he should not be held criminally responsible because he was a "destitute and broken" man who was hearing voices. Prosecutors said the murders came after Seng had a falling out with the children's mother, Chhong Yim, and she insisted he move out despite his pleas to stay.
In 2002, the state Supreme Judicial Court overturned Seng's conviction and ordered a new trial. The court ruled that a Khmer translation of his constitutional rights against self-incrimination, which were also delivered in English, were deficient and did not even inform him of his right to remain silent.
3 comments:
I said lock his ass in Jail and have those nigers rape him as much as they wanted to. He'll definitely become those nigers bitch...Good for him...for slaughtered those kids just over the fact that their mother kick him out. YOu should deal with it as a man sucker!!
How rediculous! It's completely opposite to Mr. Sar Sarun. Cambodian people really have mental disturbance sequella after ah norok polt pot, noun chea, ieng sary and khiev samphan.
You go, mate5:54!!!
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