Teens guilty of double murder

TWO Territory teenagers were yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment for the drowning murders of two sex workers in a crocodile infested river.

Friends Ben William McLean and Phu Ngoc Trinh showed no emotion as a jury found them 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 NT 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 raid by police a week after the killings.

McLean originally said the Hells Angels bikie gang forced them to kill the women to pay off a drug debt but the teens later admitted the story was a pack of lies.

In a twist at the end of the trial, it was said an Asian gang was responsible for the killings and McLean was not 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 showing Trinh was where he said he was at a particular time on the night of the murders.

The jury yesterday chose to reject as false 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," Detective Sergeant Lade, the head of the investigation, said outside the 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 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 described the killings as "horrific", yesterday sentenced the teens to mandatory life imprisonment.

He will set a non-parole period on May 16.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sun, 20th March 2005
Source: Sunday Territorian
Author: Karen Michelmore
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Sunday Territorian