TEveryone in the neighborhood knew that he was returning from Guyana with six kilos of cocaine, hidden in the false bottom of a backpack. He didn't hide it. But this return with fanfare was fatal to Gary Pan Hung Kuet.
On August 11, 2019, while coming to water the caretaker's plants on the sixth floor, a resident of the Virginie residence, Allée de Listrac in Bordeaux, peeked through the half-open door of an apartment. Traces of blood stained the ground and shell casings were visible around the lifeless body of the occupant of the premises, which served as a hiding place and point of sale. The medical examiner quickly confirmed that Gary Pan Hung Kuet, 34, had been shot and killed the night before.
Those presumed responsible for this death, seven men, aged 27 to 40, have been on trial since Monday, November 18, by the Gironde Assize Court. Initially indicted for murder by an organized gang, five appear for violent robbery leading to death and two for failure to report a crime, all against a backdrop of drug trafficking. The verdict is expected on November 27.
Simultaneous disconnections
No break-in, the bathtub apron torn off, palm marks noted, discreet neighbors, friends who don't talk much: the investigation by the criminal brigade of the interregional directorate of the judicial police focused on the people with whom the victim was in a relationship, even in daily contact. His relatives, but also the people in his neighborhood with whom he worked together to sell drugs or an intermediary with a drug trafficker from Montpellier.
Intercepting telephone lines, researching that of the deceased, isolating and locating call numbers, the police were able to observe telephone demarcations then simultaneous disconnections on the night of the crime before a sudden reappearance on the network.
Patiently, through evolving statements, they were able to reconstruct the last hours of Gary Pan Hung Kuet and put forward a scenario. Because the quantity of drugs brought back from Guyana whetted the appetite of his comrades. On August 10, 2019, after consuming alcohol and cannabis and before picking him up at Saint-Jean station, members of his entourage matured and ruminated on the project of recovering the cocaine and sharing the loot. .
A handgun recovered in Cestas in the afternoon to intimidate, young people as reinforcements at the bottom of the building, cars with their engines running to rush away, accomplices who could serve as an alibi… But the robbery went wrong . One of the two young people assigned to steal the drugs fired when Gary Pan Hung Kuet, realizing what was happening, jumped on him. The other, hit by the ricochet of a bullet, fled.
The brain
The gunshots did not prevent the criminals from taking away and sharing the goods, without really worrying about the fate of the victim. It is now clear that the primary intention was not to kill but rather to steal the cocaine stored at his home by Gary Pan Hung Kuet at all costs.
The challenge of the trial is to determine who had a central role, who is the mastermind of this drug theft. On Friday, the court must question the accused on the facts.
An unclear psychologist expert
Before getting to the facts, the Gironde Assize Court seeks to know who the seven accused are, tried for two days in connection with the violent robbery which led to the death of Gary Pan Hung Kuet, on August 10, 2019 in his Bordeaux apartment. Taking an interest in their life journey and their personality, justice called on experts. On Tuesday, the psychiatric expert came to say, in the language of “everyman”, that he had met a manipulative accused, another without compassion in relation to the consequences of his actions, another who only identifies himself compared to a group, several presenting addictions or psychopathic and asocial traits. Yesterday, instead of enlightening them, the psychologist expert misled the jurors. Doctor (by his academic title) but not a doctor, he knows how to use convoluted formulas, uses seven words when one is enough. He describes a defendant as “generally evasive, if not actively retentive,” but does the same on the stand. Fortunately, the president is there to translate. Clearly, the expert had few answers to his questions.
