Hmong Man Found Guilty in Hunter Deaths: The Dirtbag!

[Full MeTal Jack]

Sep 16, 8:55 PM EDT

Hmong Man Found Guilty in Hunter Deaths

By ROBERT IMRIE
Associated Press Writer

HAYWARD, Wis. (AP) -- A jury on Friday convicted an immigrant truck driver of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of six deer hunters during a confrontation over trespassing, rejecting his claims that he fired in self-defense after one hunter used racial slurs and another shot at him.

Chai Soua Vang, 36, faces mandatory life in prison. Wisconsin does not have a death penalty.

Jurors deliberated about three hours before convicting Vang on six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted homicide. In addition to the six dead, two hunters were wounded in the shootings Nov. 21 that began when the group of hunters confronted Vang for being on private land.

Vang, dressed in a business suit with family members seated behind him, showed no visible emotion as the judge read the verdict.

The crime rocked Wisconsin's north woods in part because four of the victims were shot in the back and all but one were unarmed, according to testimony.

The slayings also occurred during the state's beloved deer hunting season and exposed racial tension between the predominantly white north woods residents and immigrants from the Hmong ethnic group of Southeast Asia.

Outside court, one of Vang's friends questioned the all-white jury's makeup and maintained Vang was innocent.

"All Caucasian, all American. Why can't there be one Hmong? Why can't there be one minority in there?" Pofwmyeh Yang said. "I believe only one person can judge, and that's God. But God didn't judge today."

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said in her closing argument that Vang ambushed some of the victims and chased down one of them. But the defense said the confrontation was all about racial prejudice.

Vang's attorney, Steven Kohn, told jurors the prosecution cannot prove who fired the first shot. Vang had testified he started firing only after one of the hunters shot at him first.

"In the courtroom, the tie goes to the defendant," Kohn said.

Lautenschlager reminded jurors Vang testified he felt two of the victims deserved to die because they called him names. "The physical evidence and the witness statements speak for themselves," she said.

Kohn said Friday the hunters' anger at Vang was driven by racial prejudice.

"It really is the straw that stirs the drink. It is the catalyst," he said. He told jurors the trial was not about the Hmong community or Wisconsin's hunting culture, but about what happened when specific individuals confronted each other in the woods.

The judge had given jurors the option of finding Vang guilty on lesser charges of second-degree murder or attempted murder.

Vang testified Thursday that he fired at the group of hunters because he feared for his life. At one point, he pretended to hold a rifle as he told jurors how he gunned down the victims - but he claimed it was only after a shot was fired at him.

Vang, a truck driver from St. Paul, Minn., came to the United States more than 20 years ago from a refugee camp in Thailand.

He said the shootings happened after one of the white hunters used profanities and racial slurs when angrily confronting him for trespassing in a tree stand used to hunt deer last fall.

Two survivors of the shootings testified that only one shot was fired at Vang, and that was after he had already shot the victims.

Cross-examined by Lautenschlager, Vang was asked if each victim deserved to die. Vang answered "no" in some cases and "yes" in others.

He told jurors he was on the rifle team in high school in California and later served in the National Guard, where he was trained to shoot to kill. He also described himself as an experienced hunter.

[Apollyon67]

Sounds to me like he had been looking for just this opportunity to try his hand at hunting the ultimate prey. Racial slurs justify murder?

[practical]

Saw this on yahoo. Good. Now let him cook or whatever their flavor of capitol punishment is.

Even if he was being harassed over racial issues, still doesn't make murdering six people even close to justifiable.

[Full MeTal Jack]

I hope the federal government comes in and charges him, Vang, the dirtbag with a hate crime!
Northern Wisconsiners have had a lot of trouble with these Laosian's trespassing on privite property for years.
One account said Vang fiddeled with his rifle, taking the scope off, before he opened fire.

"The suspect got down from the deer stand, walked 40 yards, fiddled with his rifle. He took the scope off his rifle, he turned and he opened fire on the group," Meier said.
(CBS/AP)
"Someone in the group wrote the suspect's hunting license number, which hunters wear on their clothing, by tracing it on a dirty vehicle, Meier said.
The shooter took off into the woods and eventually came upon two other hunters who had not heard about the shootings. Vang told them he was lost, and they offered him a ride to a warden's truck, Meier said. He was then arrested; authorities plan to bring charges against him later this week. Investigators said Vang was cooperating.
Vang was carrying an SKS 7.62-mm caliber rifle, a cheap but powerful semiautomatic weapon, "(from AP)

Quote,:The slayings also occurred during the state's beloved deer hunting season and exposed racial tension between the predominantly white north woods residents and immigrants from the Hmong ethnic group of Southeast Asia.
ROBERT IMRIE ought to be slapped with a roled up newspaper like a dog that does we-we on the floor. Evidently an AVID DEER HUNTER?
Robert! Just report the who, what, when, where and how. Betcha Mr. Robert is one of those white folk that FEEL guilty about being white.
Full MeTal out!

One last thought; HANG EM!

[Rave]

Guilty of murder,yes,guilty of hate crime,no.
I rest my case.

[troy2000]

I remember quotes in the paper from some of his fellow Hmong. Most of them said all the usual stuff, but a couple described him as basically a belligerent troublemaker. I figure they were the honest ones.

[BattleRifleG3]

What I can't believe is how slanted this article was towards painting him as afflicted by racism.

What an idiot his friend was suggesting that they drag up a Hmong for the jury. That wouldn't even be proportional representation for the Hmong population in America. I have a feeling the jury was an accurate cross-section of Wisconsin's population.

Regardless of the media slant this has given against the gun and in favor of the Vang-ker, six convictions on six deaths and three convictions on attempts sounds like that jury was right on.

[Troy]

he's gotta fry, although a long, healthy lifetime of rotting away in prison would be nice too. that wouldn't be fair to the public who pays to house these cretins who pollute our world. yeah, in that interest of being frugal, fry em.

[troy2000]

Unfortunately (or maybe not), it's cheaper to keep him in prison for life than to go thru the appeals process and knock him off. The reason I think it may not be unfortunate is that I don't really mind him spending years contemplating what an idiot he was.

[Thrawn]

Originally Posted by Troy

he's gotta fry, although a long, healthy lifetime of rotting away in prison would be nice too. that wouldn't be fair to the public who pays to house these cretins who pollute our world. yeah, in that interest of being frugal, fry em.

one 7.62x39 round is a lot cheaper for the taxpayers.

[Troy]

good point, to quote a movie "well if you'll just trim a little fat off the constitution......" and then all your left with is how cheap lead is.

[toolman]

Originally Posted by Thrawn

one 7.62x39 round is a lot cheaper for the taxpayers.

I totally agree, it cost him less than a buck to kill six legitimate hunters and wound several others! I wanted to hear his justification for having a fully loaded thirty round mag to hunt deer.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by toolman

I totally agree, it cost him less than a buck to kill six legitimate hunters and wound several others! I wanted to hear his justification for having a fully loaded thirty round mag to hunt deer.

I have little doubt he was up that stand to get some meat, not to take his bearings. Many immigrants into this country are puzzled by the very concept of "sport." They look at hunting and fishing as just another form of harvesting, and wonder what all the fuss and arbitrary rules are about.

Don't misunderstand me; there's no excuse for what he did that would fly with me or mine.

[Lonegun1894]

Guys,
I wasnt born here, and i hunt and fish. Part of my reason is the meat, but the main thing is just getting out there and being out in nature. Getting something while there is just a bonus. I know there is a lot of problems with immigration right now and i'm with you on that one. I've been raised here, and spent my time in the service. Maybe that is part of what made a difference for me. There is no excuse whatsoever for his actions. Having said that, where do i send my donation of a bullet or money to buy one for him?
Paul

[BattleRifleG3]

I would be generous enough to offer an entire magazine full, and not just the meager X39 - 7.62 Nato, good for bone breaking and overpenetrating. It would take an entire magazine because I doubt I could hit him squarely enough to take him out with one shot. :full:

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by Lonegun1894

Guys,
I wasnt born here, and i hunt and fish. Part of my reason is the meat, but the main thing is just getting out there and being out in nature. Getting something while there is just a bonus. I know there is a lot of problems with immigration right now and i'm with you on that one. I've been raised here, and spent my time in the service. Maybe that is part of what made a difference for me. There is no excuse whatsoever for his actions. Having said that, where do i send my donation of a bullet or money to buy one for him?
Paul

I was just commenting on the different cultures some of them come from; especially those for whom fishing and hunting was an adjunct to subsistence farming, like the Hmong.

But this guy had definitely been around long enough to know better when he climbed into that deer stand on private property. And he was a jerk to the bone; he actually said on the stand that the ones who called him names "deserved" to die. Hoo-boy, if being politically incorrect or calling people names is suddenly a capital crime, I think we're all in serious trouble.

[rebel727]

Originally Posted by toolman

I wanted to hear his justification for having a fully loaded thirty round mag to hunt deer.

I thought it was a 10 round mag and he reloaded once.

[toolman]

Originally Posted by rebel727

I thought it was a 10 round mag and he reloaded once.

Who knows, I heard it was a thirty rd. but you know how that stuff gets twisted. They probly just said it was bigger to make it sound worse.

[SilverRun]

Life in Prison. Now the taxpayers have to feed this dirtbag for the rest of his life. Too bad they don't have the death penalty there!

[BattleRifleG3]

Appeals against the death penalty tend to cost the taxpayer more than life in prison. Even if not the most just to the Vang-ker, it is the less costly, unfortunately.