A sentencing hearing scheduled for 10 days began Monday in Abbotsford for a man who pleaded guilty to two of five charges laid in connection to a death in Mission from August 2020.
Van Chau Nguyen, 60, pleaded guilty to charges of second degree murder and assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm. He did not plead guilty to the three other charges – arson, forcible confinement and uttering threats.
In B.C. Supreme Court in Abbotsford on Monday morning, evidence was presented as part of a Gardiner hearing — a contested sentencing hearing on aggravating or mitigating facts in dispute by either the Crown or defence after an accused has pleaded guilty.
The hearing stems from an August 2020 incident in which RCMP and Mission Fire Rescue Service were called to a fire at 30819 Gunn Ave.
The body of 64-year-old Vien Ngoc Bui was discovered inside the burnt building, and Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) investigators concluded that he was the victim of homicide.
According to the Crown at Monday’s hearing, Nguyen admitted to attending the main residence at Gunn Avenue in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, 2020 and carrying bear spray, a machete and a knife.
The Crown alleges Nguyen deployed bear spray and threatened the occupants with death, slashed a woman in the face with a machete, kicked her in the head, struck another man on the back of the head with either the knife or the machete, and severed Bui’s left hand and right foot with the machete.
The prosecution said Nguyen zip-tied the wrists of three of the occupants, forced them into the washroom where there was a fourth person, closed the door and warned the victims not to come out. Nguyen allegedly remained outside of the washroom with the severely injured Bui.
Shortly after, the Crown says victims inside the washroom smelled gasoline and about one minute later, a large fire engulfed the main residence.
Nguyen was arrested by IHIT on Oct. 2, 2020 and later charged. Police at the time said Nguyen and Bui knew each other.
The Gardiner hearing looked into the cause of the fire, and two witnesses provided testimony on Monday. The Crown argued that Nguyen intentionally caused the fire by pouring gasoline inside the main residence and igniting it, which the defence disputed.
Tuan Phan, a former friend of Nguyen, testified through a Vietnamese interpreter about interactions with Nguyen on the days following the incident. Phan said that Nguyen told him about a fight on Aug. 8 and using gasoline to set fire to the Gunn Avenue house.
The defence suggested that it’s hard for Phan to know what Nguyen told him as opposed to what Phan learned from other people in the Vietnamese community or in the news, based on testimony from June 2022. However, the defence was not alleging recent fabrication.
Ian Glasgow, Mission Fire Rescue Service’s assistant chief of fire prevention, testified as an expert witness. The Crown said Glasgow was unable to determine the origin and cause of the fire by examining the burn site alone due to the extensive fire damage.
However, Glasgow concluded that the fire was consistent with being caused by the pouring and admission of a substantial amount of flammable liquid after reviewing surveillance footage and summaries of the witness statements.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to wrap up on June 9.
– With files from
Patrick Penner