Career criminal Tam Minh Le thought he had covered up his crimes when he and his associates allegedly threw three men they had bound, beaten, and stabbed into the Schuylkill River in August and left them for dead, authorities said.
However, one of Le’s victims managed to free himself, climb to the banks of the river, and call for help. The survivor’s account of what happened led police to charge Le with numerous offenses, including murder, and add him the U.S. Marshals’ most-wanted fugitive list this week, a federal press release said.
“Given the nature of his charges, Tam Le poses a significant threat to anyone he may come into contact with,” warned David B. Webb, U.S. Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He said law enforcement agencies across the country were working to apprehend the dangerous 43-year-old.
According to U.S. Marshals, on Aug. 27, Le, along with members associated with the Vietnamese gang “Born to Kill,” allegedly held two brothers, Viet Huynh and Vu Huynh, hostage at his Southwest Philadelphia home for gambling away $100,000 they were supposed to use to purchase narcotics. In an attempt to free the brothers and buy some time, another man arrived at the home with a partial payment of $40,000.
Le was not satisfied and allegedly decided all three men would pay with their lives. Le and his associates took the men to the 2300 block of Kelly Drive where they allegedly assaulted and stabbed the bound victims, tossing their mutilated bodies in the Schuylkill. While the victim who attempted to settle the debt survived, the Huynh brothers did not. Authorities found their bodies in the river bound with zip ties and riddled with stab wounds.
“We are absolute in our commitment to apprehend Le across both international and domestic jurisdictional boundaries to insure he faces justice, ” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton.
A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading directly to Le’s arrest. Anyone with information is urged to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals Service office or the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102. Additional information can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
