Capital murder charges were filed Tuesday against a man accused in the stabbing deaths of two men who were attacked while playing mah-jongg in a private social club in Chinatown last week.
Vinh Dao — who prosecutors say has a 2002 conviction for manslaughter — is accused in last Thursday’s stabbing deaths of Tony Young and Kim Kong Yon at the Hop Sing Tong Benevolent Association at 428 Gin Ling Way, near the 900 block of North Broadway.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with the allegation that the 36-year-old defendant personally used a knife in the commission of the crimes.
Los Angeles police allege Dao approached Young at the Chinatown club, demanded money from him to pay for vehicle impound fees and then attacked Young with a 6-inch knife when he refused. Young was in his 60s and lived in the Montebello area.
When Yun, 64, of Monterey Park, tried to intervene, he was also fatally stabbed, detectives said.
Dao, who was quickly identified as the alleged killer, was arrested in Rosemead about 24 hours later. A former member of the private club, he had recently returned to Los Angeles after several years in the Las Vegas area, police said.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Hanasono ordered Dao held without bail while awaiting arraignment Feb. 24.
–City News Service
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