Run Chhoun

Run "Peter" Chhoun (; born 1972) is a Cambodian gang leader of the Tiny Rascal Gang convicted for involvement in nine murders committed in the US state of California between July and August 1995 alongside multiple accomplices. His co-defendant in most of the crimes, fellow TRG leader Samreth Pan, was also sentenced to death for four of the murders while five other accomplices received lengthy prison sentences.

Early life Chhoun was born in rural Cambodia to Buddhist rice farmers. During the Cambodian Civil War, his father was conscripted into the Khmer Republic's military to fight the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Around 1976, when Chhoun was between four and five years old, his home village was taken over by Khmer Rouge forces and after hiding for several days, the family was captured. Chhoun and his older brother were separated from their father, who was imprisoned and tortured, and initially remained with their mother. Khmer Rouge discouraged displays of affection between the Chhoun brothers and their mother, once preventing her from comforting Chhoun after he was rescued from a near drowning. The brothers were eventually sent off to a labor camp, where they remained until the early stages of the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, when the Khmer Rouge was deposed. The brothers made two escape attempts, being recaptured each time and physically punished as a result. though the first four victims were mistakenly identified as Hmong initially.

Home invasions On July 10, 1995, Chhoun and 21-year-old Giao Ly ("Sandman") robbed the apartment of 26-year-old Johnny Hagan Jr. (also known as Le Sang) and 23-year-old Hong Nga Thi Pham in Spokane. The robbers tied up Hagan and Pham and pushed them to the floor, where the couple were cut with a knife after they refused to hand over any valuables. Chhoun killed the couple by shooting Hagan twice in the head and Pham in the head and chest using a .45 caliber handgun. The couple's children, four-year-old Johnny "Joe" Hagan III and one-year-old Diana Hagan, hid and saw the robbers before they left His presence was confirmed by fingerprints on the front door and a bloody handprint on a cabinet. Joe alerted neighbors the following morning and later identified Chhoun as the shooter.

According Chhoun's girlfriend Champa Onkhamdy, she, Chhoun, Ly, and Kunthea Sar ("Precious") had driven to Spokane together, but she and Sar stayed at an apartment while Chhoun and Ly carried out the robbery. After they returned, Chhoun and Ly hid out at Onkhamdy's home in Portland, where the two gave part of the loot to one or two other people. She initially claimed to have overheard the group mentioning murder, but later stated that she could not understand the conversation since she was not a speaker of Khmer. Chhoun gave Onkhamdy some of the stolen jewelry before he returned to California via plane. a friend of the Nguyens who had suggested them as targets. In the evening, she knocked on the residence's front door while the gang hid in some bushes and after the father, Henry Nguyen, opened the door, Vinh Tran forced his way inside at gunpoint, followed by Chhoun and Evans, while Nhung Tran returned to the getaway vehicle. After first taking Henry Nguyen, his wife Trinh Tran, and their 13-year-old daughter Doan Nguyen hostage, Vinh Tran brought three other children, 11-year-old Daniel Nguyen, 10-year-old David Nguyen, and 2-year-old Dennis Tran, into the living room, forcing all six to the ground. Since the Nguyens spoke no English, Vinh Tran translated for Chhoun, who demanded money and threatened their youngest child Dennis with a meat cleaver when Henry Nguyen claimed that they had no money; Henry ultimately relinquished $2,000 in cash. Vinh Tran forced toothpaste into Trinh Tran's nostrils, claiming it was poison as a threat. Evans searched the house for valuables and returned to the living room after Daniel agreed to lead him to a stash of money in another room.

Pan was arrested on September 1, after he attempted to rob two children in Signal Hill. During another interrogation on September 7, Chhoun claimed that he and Pan fled before they could rob the Le family after hearing someone else firing gunshots in the apartment. Pan separately claimed that he blacked out before the robbery and had no memory of the events that followed. Pan was initially considered the main orchestrator behind the murders and several other suspected homicides linked to the TRG. Miguel Vargas Avina, 20 - Pomona, August 8, 1995 Son "Henry" Nguyen, 44 - San Bernardino, August 9, 1995 Trinh Yen Tran, 35 - San Bernardino, August 9, 1995 (wife of Henry Nguyen) Doan Hoang Nguyen, 13 - San Bernardino, August 9, 1995 (daughter of Henry Nguyen and Trinh Tran) Daniel Hoang Nguyen, 11 - San Bernardino, August 9, 1995 (son of Henry Nguyen) David Hoang Nguyen, 10 - San Bernardino, August 9, 1995 (son of Henry Nguyen)

Trials The trials for the murders in California began on February 29, 1996. Besides Chhoun and Pan, also tried for involvement were Nhung Tran, Vinh Tran, and William Evans, the latter two of whom were tried as adults.

A CT scan of Chhoun showed brain asymmetry and unbalanced frontal lobe activity which indicated hypofrontality, consistent with traumatic brain injury or childhood post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychologist William Foreman argued that Chhoun developed reactive attachment disorder and chronic posttraumatic stress disorder due his experience in the Cambodian genocide. He also considered an antisocial personality disorder, but attributed most of the associated symptoms displayed by Chhoun as "artifacts of survival strategies in Cambodia". Foreman did not perform psychological exams with Chhoun, citing his poor English skills. Another psychologist, Craig Rath, denied Foreman's main diagnoses, instead stating that Chhoun's childhood symptoms were more consistent with conduct disorder, which continued to be present as antisocial personality disorder. Rath also noted that Chhoun's high school records and private writings showed a basic understanding of English. In December 1996, Vinh Tran pleaded guilty to the murders of the Nguyen family in exchange for a 50 year to life sentence rather than life without parole. but she accepted a plea deal for a maximum sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment, agreeing to testify against the remaining defendants. Giao Ly was convicted in November 1996, having pled guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree murder to avoid life imprisonment, and sentenced to 42 years in January 1997.

Jail incidents On May 7, 1996, while in jail custody, Chhoun threatened two officers of San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Brice Jury and Sergeant Daniel Braun, and the officers' families after Jury denied Chhoun release into a lower security section the prior day. Chhoun later brandished a shank at Jury through the bars of his cell and attempted to bite Jury when he and other officers entered to subdue him. Besides the shank, a makeshift ligature was also recovered. receiving a death sentence. On February 29, 2000, Chhoun and Pan were convicted of the murder of Bunlort Bun,

Chhoun remained charged for his involvement in the murders of Johnny Hagan and Hong Pham in Spokane, with the case pending as of 2002. Chhoun was also implicated in the rape of Tiny Rascal Gang associate "D.T.". Investigations later focused on Chang An's criminal associates, though police still noted similarities to the Tiny Rascal Gang killings.

Later developments In February 2021, the Supreme Court of California affirmed the death sentence of Chhoun. Chhoun's defense claimed that he and his accomplices were judged by religious and ethnic stereotypes, saying that there were insinuations by both prosecutors and his defense that he did not live up to the model minority of Asian Americans stereotype and Buddhist values, and that prosecutors invoked Black stereotypes due to his skin tone, as well as claiming that prosecutors had engaged in Cambodian genocide denial by instructing jury members to ignore portions of his defense mentioning the genocide. Run Chhoun's convictions were upheld, after the Supreme Court of California found that statements during his sentencing relating to his Cambodian background and Buddhist upbringing to did not violate the Racial Justice Act in a 4-3 decision.