Posted on 07/27/2004 4:56:49 PM PDT by aculeus
Five men who allegedly forced a Sydney accountant to swallow acid at gunpoint have been charged with his murder.
Accountant Dominic Li, 45, died on January 2 last year after he was allegedly forced to swallow acid at gunpoint in front of his wife and 14-year-old son on December 13, 2002 at their Concord home.
Five men aged 24-39 were all charged with murder and conspiring to inflict grievous bodily harm. Two were also charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm while the other three also face charges of being an accessory.
Some face assault and firearms charges.
A sixth man was charged with murder but died before he could be extradited from Thailand to Australia last month.
Mr Li's wife, Chau Ma, said she was pleased charges had been laid.
"I am pleased that the detectives have charged these men," she said in a statement. "We are still grieving but are trying to get on with life. However, I fear that our lives have been taken away from us forever."
Detective Sergeant Col Taylor from the South East Asian Crime Squad said the charges were the culmination of an 18-month investigation.
All five men are due to face Central Local Court today.
Ohhh, not that kinda acid...
I think I would have chosen the bullet.
,,, surely they knew he was an accountant, not a lawyer?
Perhaps if the Australian government had not stripped all it's citizens of firearms, Mr. Li could have defended himself and his family and the story would be different.
what was the motive?
Well if the existing laws aren't enough, then they should enact twice as many laws against guns. If that isn't enough, again double the amount of gun control legislation. Keep doubling it to show those crooks who has the final say! Yes, and then when all the trees are cut down to publish the laws, we will know who is in control.....(/sarcasm)
Your original post was well said! Crooks respect force and determination. As they say, an armed society is a polite society.
ping
Yikes, 3 weeks to die. I did some googling for more info and it looks like the suspects are Asian drug gang members. My initial bet would have been on members of the Religion of Peace.
Oh yes, I didn't see this post when I pinged you.
Hiya Shaggy!
,,, good to see you! Hope you're enjoying summer to the max.
What a sick crime. Fyi, Australia actually has relatively liberal gun laws (compared to europe at least). When I lived there a few years ago I considered looked into getting one; there was a ton of paperwork but you could do it if you wanted. Maybe they've changed since I was there of course.
You know, I thought that, too. I wondered why he didn't just take the gunshot, but I suspect the gunmen wanted him to swallow the acid and threatened to shoot his family and him unless he complied, as an incentive to swallow the acid and not just wait to be shot.
I, too, wonder if the Religion of Peace isn't at work here. The Aussie media has a strange perception of fairness when they intentionally omit any reference to race or nationality or religion when it comes to crimes committed by Muslim men. After all (sarcasm), wouldn't want the criminals to feel bad by labelling them with 'unnecessary' adjectives or by profiling.
If they are going to 'inform' or just share the story; then what about the rest of the story?
'Why' did these people commit such a heinous crime; and it there a death penalty waiting for them; or does Australia even have one
However,if a muslim for instance,even gives an Australian a dirty look,it will make front page news.
Thanks for the background here re harsh realities.
The death penalty in Oz is administered by criminals.
Sounds like the Olde West, 'whatever it takes' kind of philosophy. . .
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