Teens sentenced to life for murder
21:55 AEDT Sat Mar 19 2005
Two teenagers have been sentenced to life imprisonment over the
drowning murder of two sex workers in a crocodile infested river.
Friends Ben William McLean and Phu Ngoc Trinh sat emotionless as a
jury found them both guilty of two counts of murder.
The unanimous verdict came after more than 12 hours of jury
deliberations, and at the end of a sensational five-week trial in
the Northern Territory Supreme Court.
The 19-year-olds originally confessed to the murder after they were
discovered hiding in a cupboard in a friend's Brisbane home during a
midnight police raid a week after the killings.
McLean originally claimed the bikie gang Hells Angels forced them to
kill the women to pay off a drug debt, but the teens later admitted
the story was a pack of lies.
But in a twist at the end of the trial it was claimed an Asian crime
gang was responsible for the killings, and McLean was not even
present during the murders.
The elaborate story gained some weight when the prosecution was
forced to reopen its case with new evidence at the 11th hour.
Police uncovered security footage that showed Trinh was where he
said he was at a particular time on the night of the killings.
However, the jury chose to disbelieve the teens' Asian crime gang
story with a guilty verdict, which investigator Greg Lade described
as a "great result".
"We're obviously happy, it's good to see that the jury system does
work," head of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Lade said
outside court.
"We were confident all the way through.
"It's a big case and it's a difficult case.
"There was those full frank confessions to start with and it changed
dramatically towards the end of the trial.
"All we can say is at the end of the day a good result."
Darwin sex workers Phuangsri Kroksamrang, 58, and Somjai Insamnan,
27, were bound with cable ties and thrown alive into the Adelaide
River, near Darwin in March last year.
Their floating bodies were discovered by crocodile spotting tour
operators a couple of days later.
Police later found clothing and items belonging to the women burnt
in a fire on Trinh's family property, and a receipt for the rope,
tape and cable ties used to bind the women in Trinh's wallet.
Justice Dean Mildren, who has described the killings as "horrific",
sentenced the teenagers to mandatory life imprisonment.
He will set a non-parole period on May 16