Suspect Arrested In The Death Of Dane Williams, 23-Year-Old Intern

[LetsBeConcerned]

Man pleads not guilty in death of Hurley intern Dane Williams
By JON CASSIDY AND ANNIE BURRIS
The Orange County Register

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A man arrested in the death of a Dane Williams, a 23-year-old intern from Huntington Beach whose body was found in a San Diego alley last year, could get the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors said today.

Philong Huynh, 39, of San Diego was arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty today on one charge of murder and two charges of sexual assault. Charges of murder and sexual assault while the victim was intoxicated could lead to 25 years to life in prison, and a special circumstances allegation of murder during commission of a sex crime makes Huynh eligible for the death penalty if convicted, San Diego prosecutors said.

No bail was set for Huynh and a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 29. Police released a photo of Huynh in the hopes that other possible victims might come forward.

Detectives working a sex crime from June 6, 2009, identified Huynh as a suspect in that case, and gathered DNA evidence from him, San Diego police said. That DNA material matched evidence found on Williams’ body, police said. Huynh lives around 800 feet from where Williams’ body was found, police said.

It is still unknown how Dane Williams died, police said.

The family has declined to comment on the arrest, sister Hayley Williams said today, adding that her parents were in San Diego for the arraignment.

Hayley Williams posted on her Facebook about 11:30 a.m., “An arrest has been made!!”

Dane Williams’ family had been on a campaign since his death to encourage witnesses to come forward with information.

Family and friends held a remembrance vigil in January at an Action Sports Retailer trade expo – the same event Dane Williams had attended before he disappeared. White wristbands with the words, “Keeping Dane’s Spirit Alive” were handed out and people wearing the wristband were given free cab rides back to their hotels after the expo’s parties, according to apparelnews.net.

The June 6, 2009, sexual assault wasn’t solved immediately, but when DNA evidence recovered from the victim was uploaded to a database, a hit came back on Aug. 19 that matched a sample recovered from the Williams crime scene, said Lt. Kevin Rooney of the homicide unit.

They didn’t have a name connected to either sample, so solving the sexual assault became a high priority. The case was transferred to homicide detectives, Rooney said.

“Between Aug. 19 and Sept. 10, we did everything we could to solve that sex crime,” Rooney said.

Detectives arrested Huynh on Thursday, Sept. 10, and served search warrants on two homes.

Rooney said that a sample of Huynh’s DNA has been tested, and that it matches the DNA in the two crimes.

The victim in the June 6, 2009, sexual assault said he met Huynh in San Diego’s Gaslamp district and the two ended up drinking and going to the beach, City News Service reported. After telling Huynh he had a headache, the man was given two pills he was told were Tylenol, then woke up without his underwear in the defendant’s bed the next morning, the prosecutor said, according to City News Service.

Williams was last seen around 3 a.m. Jan. 26, 2008, outside a bar at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp district.

He was found Jan. 29, 2008, at 6 a.m. in a damp, dirt alley, wrapped in a blood-stained plaid blanket with small cuts on his body. He was lying on his back with his feet crossed wearing the same clothing as the day he disappeared – a black pullover Hurley branded shirt with stripes, Hurley denim jeans, a brown belt and white All Star gym shoes.

His clothing was damp and no personal items were found on or near the body, a coroner’s report said. His underwear was missing, City News Service reported, citing the prosecutor.

Dane Williams’ blood alcohol level was 0.17 percent – more than twice the legal limit for driving. There were also slight amounts of Valium and quinine in his body, authorities said.

Family members have said Williams did have an occasional drink but did not take drugs.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/body-williams-hurley-2567174-huynh-dna

[LetsBeConcerned]

Victim
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/glasscup6/missingDaneWilliams.jpg

:rose: Dane Williams :rose:

[LetsBeConcerned]

Suspect
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/glasscup6/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a5726074970b.jpg
Philong Huynh, 39,

No bail was set for Huynh and a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 29. Police released a photo of Huynh in the hopes that other possible victims might come forward.

[LetsBeConcerned]

Man pleads not guilty in death of Hurley intern Dane Williams
By JON CASSIDY AND ANNIE BURRIS
The Orange County Register

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A man arrested in the death of a Dane Williams, a 23-year-old intern from Huntington Beach whose body was found in a San Diego alley last year, could get the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors said today.

Philong Huynh, 39, of San Diego was arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty today on one charge of murder and two charges of sexual assault. Charges of murder and sexual assault while the victim was intoxicated could lead to 25 years to life in prison, and a special circumstances allegation of murder during commission of a sex crime makes Huynh eligible for the death penalty if convicted, San Diego prosecutors said.

No bail was set for Huynh and a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 29. Police released a photo of Huynh in the hopes that other possible victims might come forward.

Detectives working a sex crime from June 6, 2009, identified Huynh as a suspect in that case, and gathered DNA evidence from him, San Diego police said. That DNA material matched evidence found on Williams’ body, police said. Huynh lives around 800 feet from where Williams’ body was found, police said.

It is still unknown how Dane Williams died, police said.

The family has declined to comment on the arrest, sister Hayley Williams said today, adding that her parents were in San Diego for the arraignment.

Hayley Williams posted on her Facebook about 11:30 a.m., “An arrest has been made!!”

Dane Williams’ family had been on a campaign since his death to encourage witnesses to come forward with information.

Family and friends held a remembrance vigil in January at an Action Sports Retailer trade expo – the same event Dane Williams had attended before he disappeared. White wristbands with the words, “Keeping Dane’s Spirit Alive” were handed out and people wearing the wristband were given free cab rides back to their hotels after the expo’s parties, according to apparelnews.net.

The June 6, 2009, sexual assault wasn’t solved immediately, but when DNA evidence recovered from the victim was uploaded to a database, a hit came back on Aug. 19 that matched a sample recovered from the Williams crime scene, said Lt. Kevin Rooney of the homicide unit.

They didn’t have a name connected to either sample, so solving the sexual assault became a high priority. The case was transferred to homicide detectives, Rooney said.

“Between Aug. 19 and Sept. 10, we did everything we could to solve that sex crime,” Rooney said.

Detectives arrested Huynh on Thursday, Sept. 10, and served search warrants on two homes.

Rooney said that a sample of Huynh’s DNA has been tested, and that it matches the DNA in the two crimes.

The victim in the June 6, 2009, sexual assault said he met Huynh in San Diego’s Gaslamp district and the two ended up drinking and going to the beach, City News Service reported. After telling Huynh he had a headache, the man was given two pills he was told were Tylenol, then woke up without his underwear in the defendant’s bed the next morning, the prosecutor said, according to City News Service.

Williams was last seen around 3 a.m. Jan. 26, 2008, outside a bar at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp district.

He was found Jan. 29, 2008, at 6 a.m. in a damp, dirt alley, wrapped in a blood-stained plaid blanket with small cuts on his body. He was lying on his back with his feet crossed wearing the same clothing as the day he disappeared – a black pullover Hurley branded shirt with stripes, Hurley denim jeans, a brown belt and white All Star gym shoes.

His clothing was damp and no personal items were found on or near the body, a coroner’s report said. His underwear was missing, City News Service reported, citing the prosecutor.

Dane Williams’ blood alcohol level was 0.17 percent – more than twice the legal limit for driving. There were also slight amounts of Valium and quinine in his body, authorities said.

Family members have said Williams did have an occasional drink but did not take drugs.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/body-williams-hurley-2567174-huynh-dna



I want to add that the victims are known to be heterosexual. Which I believe that is why he was drugging them. IMO

:cuss: :flamemad: :mad:

[LetsBeConcerned]

Man suspected in Hurley intern death wanted in Arizona

Philong Huynh, 39, charged with kidnapping a 19-year-old and unlawful imprisonment in Arizona.

By ANNIE BURRIS
The Orange County Register
Comments 25| Recommend 5

Thursday, September 17, 2009

A man charged Tuesday with the drugging, raping and killing of Dane Williams, a 23-year-old Huntington Beach man, is a parole violator in Arizona, where there is a warrant for his arrest, officials said today.

Philong Huynh, 39, was charged with kidnapping a 19-year-old man and unlawful imprisonment in Arizona in September 1998 and served six months in jail, court records show.

He was also sentenced to three years probation, but broke his parole in October 2006 by moving to San Diego without permission, said Arizona probation officials, who added that they did not know Huynh was arrested Sept. 10 by San Diego police.

In San Diego, Huynh is accused of drugging and killing Williams in January 2008 when Williams was attending a sports retail convention for Hurley International – a clothing company. Williams had disappeared for three days and was found Jan. 29 in an alley, wrapped in a blood-stained plaid blanket.

DNA evidence taken from Williams' body was later matched with another sexual assault victim who contacted authorities in June of this year, police said. Detectives used the DNA evidence to track down Huynh, who is now in jail.

Huynh pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one charge of murder and two charges of sexual assault. The charges make Huynh eligible for the death penalty if convicted, San Diego prosecutors said.

Huynh was charged by a grand jury in 1998 in Maricopa County, Ariz. with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment but was arrested about six years later, probably because police could not find him, said Karen Arra, spokeswoman with the Maricopa Superior Court.

Huynh wrote in court documents that he was in his 20s when he had sex with a 19-year-old and paid him money. The teen told a sibling that he received money for sex and the father called the police because the teen was mentally challenged and unable to give consent, Huynh said. A court appointed psychiatrist found that the alleged victim could give consent, Huynh wrote in a report.

Huynh pleaded guilty in March 2005 to reduced charges of unlawful imprisonment, which is a class one misdemeanor, court records show. The judgment also read that Huynh was considered "non repetitive" and "non dangerous," records said.

Huynh had his probation transferred to San Diego in August 2006 but refused to cooperate with the county's probation department, said Mike Goss, deputy chief of Maricopa County's adult probation department. He refused to comply with "sex offender terms," including failing to take a polygraph test and not allowing the parole officer to enter his mother’s home where he was staying, Goss said.

It is unclear how his false imprisonment charge required sex offender status, Goss said. The San Diego Probation Department could not discuss specifics on a parolee’s case, department spokesman Derryl Acosta said.

Huynh sued the San Diego County Probation Department in December 2005 in federal court saying that they were unnecessarily asking him to submit to sex offender treatment and evaluation. Huynh contended in a 16-page lawsuit written by hand that the probation department was requiring him to “shell out” more than $600 for an evaluation right after Huynh lost his unspecified part-time job.

Also in the petition was a note form La Jolla psychiatrist Richard B. Hicks that said, "Philong Huynh … has been diagnosed as schizophrenic and is under treatment." Hicks wrote the he has treated sexual offenders in California and Michigan.

Hicks added that Huynh “is typically passive and is pursued and/or approached by other male adults,” and is "not a sexual offender and does not need treatment as a sexual offender.” Hicks was not immediately available for comment about the report.

The case was dismissed about a year later, court documents show.

Huynh was transferred back to Arizona that year but eluded parole officers by taking a flight back to San Diego in October 2006. An arrest warrant was later issued January 2007 in Arizona for Huynh, Goss said.

No bail was set for Huynh in San Diego and a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 29. Police released a photo of Huynh in the hopes that other possible victims might come forward.


http://www.ocregister.com/articles/huynh-san-diego-2570377-probation-williams

[LetsBeConcerned]

San Diego man arrested in slaying, sexual assault of Orange County man
September 15, 2009 | 4:23 pm

A 39-year-old San Diego man is being charged with the 2008 slaying and sexual assault of an Orange County man who was attending a convention.

Philong Huynh was connected to the crime by semen found on the body of the victim, 23-year-old Dane Williams of Huntington Beach, officials said Tuesday.



An employee of Hurley International, the Costa Mesa-based surf clothing manufacturer, Williams was in San Diego for the Action Sports Retailers convention.

He was seen leaving a bar in the Gaslamp Quarter after midnight Jan. 26. His body was found three days later in the City Heights neighborhood, several miles away.

When Huynh, an employee of a medical equipment company, became a suspect in a sexual attack that occurred last June, the DNA from that case was submitted to a statewide database, said Police Lt. Kevin Rooney. It matched that found on Williams' body.

Huynh has been charged with murder with a special circumstance: murder committed during a sex crime. That could lead to the death penalty. He is also being charged with sexual assault in the June case, in which the victim survived.

Huynh lives about 800 feet from where Williams' body was found, Rooney said. He was arrested Thursday.




-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Philong Huynh. Credit: San Diego Police Department

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/a-39-year-old-san-diego-man-is-being-charged-with-2008-murder-and-sexual-assault-of-an-orange-county-man-who-was-attending-a.html

[LetsBeConcerned]

Suspect arrested in Orange County man's mysterious slaying

By Angelica Martinez and Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
Originally published 1:10 p.m. September 15, 2009, updated 5:28 p.m., September 15, 2009


SAN DIEGO — Nearly two years after an Orange County man died under suspicious circumstances, police have made an arrest in the case.

Philong Huynh, 39, of San Diego, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a murder charge and a special-circumstance allegation of sodomy in the death of Dane Williams.

Huynh also pleaded not guilty to a separate sodomy charge in connection with the sexual assault of a second man.

Police said Huynh lives within 800 feet of where the body of Williams, 23, was found after he vanished.

Williams, of Huntington Beach and an employee of Hurley International, was visiting San Diego for the Action Sports Retailers Convention. In the early-morning hours of Jan. 26, 2008, he left a bar in the Gaslamp Quarter and seemingly disappeared.

Prosecutors said he was visibly intoxicated when he left the bar.
Williams' body was found Jan. 29 in an alley on Landis Street south of University Avenue near Colina del Sol Park in City Heights. The body was wrapped in a blanket and wearing a cap, neither of which belonged to him. His underwear was missing.

A manner of death was never determined, the Medical Examiner's Office said.
Investigators did not identify a suspect until this summer, when a man reported being the victim of a sex crime.

Deputy District Attorney Gretchen Means told a judge Tuesday that the victim met Huynh in the Gaslamp Quarter on June 6 and they ended up drinking and going to the beach. The next day, the male victim woke up in Huynh's bed.

“Previously he had said he had a headache and the defendant gave him two tablets,” Means said. “When he woke up he felt extremely sick and disoriented.”

The man went to a doctor that day and was diagnosed with “benzodiazepine intoxication” and showed signs of sexual assault, said the prosecutor, who described benzodiazepine as a central nervous system depressant. He, like Williams, is heterosexual, Means said.

On Aug. 19, DNA evidence from that alleged crime was matched through an FBI database to DNA found on Williams' body, said police Lt. Kevin Rooney. That led homicide investigators to Huynh, Rooney said.

Officers spotted Huynh driving Thursday on 43rd Street and Orange Avenue just after 5 p.m. and took him into custody.

Huynh, who works for a medical-equipment supply company, lives with his mother on Wightman Street near Shiloh Road, about a block from where Williams'body was found. Police served search warrants at the home and a former address.

Means told a judge Tuesday that several pharmaceuticals were found at Huynh's residence, including a benzodiazepine prescription in his name. The prescription was filled in January 2008, the same month that Williams' body was found.

Some commonly prescribed medications classified as benzodiazepines include, Xanax, Valium, Ativan and Rohypnol, the last of which is commonly referred to as the “date-rape drug” because of its involvement in many sexual assault cases, according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland at College Park. A victim is given the drug, which causes the person to black out and have trouble remembering any assaults, experts have previously said.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon ordered Huynh to be held in county jail without bail and appointed the Public Defender's Office to represent him.

A photo of Huynh was released by police, who asked other potential victims to contact them. He is not registered as a sex offender, Rooney said.

At the time of his disappearance and for months afterward, family, friends and co-workers handed out fliers throughout the city in the hopes of solving the mystery. A $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest was also offered.

The special allegation in Williams' death makes Huynh eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors typically decide whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole after a preliminary hearing in which a judge decides if there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/15/bn15arrest-dane-williams/?metro&zIndex=166370