Massacre in Chinatown: How the FBI is Still Hunting One of Boston's Most Notorious Killers
In the early morning hours of January 12, 1991, six men were gunned down in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood. More than 30 years later one of the killers is still on the run
Background
In the early morning hours of January 12, 1991, three men walked into an after-hours gambling club at 85 Tyler Street in Boston’s Chinatown and opened fire on six men playing cards.
When the gunsmoke cleared, five men lay dead and a sixth critically wounded. The murders, which came to be known as the “Chinatown Massacre,” shook the residents of Chinatown as well as the city at large.
Though Asian gangs had been a presence in Boston since at least the 1970s, this level of wanton bloodshed was almost unheard of.
Information provided by the surviving witness identified three men who were all Vietnamese nationals as the shooters. Two of the suspects were eventually located and prosecuted. The third, however, has managed to evade capture for more than three decades.
“Sky Dragon”
During the 1970s, Stephen Tse, known as “Sky Dragon,” relocated from New York to Boston and soon became a major player within the Chinatown criminal underworld. The Hong Kong-born Tse joined the On Leong Tong association but was later expelled.
In the early 1980s, Tse founded the Ping On, which would control much of the criminal activity and rackets within Chinatown, including gambling and extortion. His organization operated independently of the more formal and well-organized tong societies.
Tse had well-established connections in the local Chinese community as well as with established criminal networks overseas. In 1984, Tse was subpoenaed to testify before the President’s Commission on Organized Crime. Although he was granted immunity if he testified, Tse refused to answer questions and was found in contempt, resulting in a 16-month jail sentence.
By the time he was released, the landscape of Chinatown had changed, and he was forced to cooperate with rival gangs and cede territory. In 1988, Tse had a disagreement with a man named Cuong Khanh Luu, which led to Tse ordering Luu’s murder.
On December 29, 1988, two hitmen shot at Luu and an associate using automatic weapons; however, neither man was hit. Tse fled to Hong Kong soon after the failed assassination attempt.
Power Struggle
During Tse’s absence, his chief lieutenant, Michael Kwong, was shot to death inside his Arlington Heights restaurant. Following Kwong’s death, other members of the Ping On were indicted on racketeering charges, which virtually wiped out the gang.
This left a power struggle between rival gangs vying for control of Chinatown.
Tyler Street Shootings
It was during this struggle for control that one of the most infamous crimes in the city’s history occurred. Hung Tien Pham, a Vietnamese national of Chinese heritage, and two accomplices, Nam The Tham and Siny Van Tran, who were also Vietnamese born, forced their way into an after-hours gambling club at 85 Tyler Street.
The three men had rushed past the club’s lone security guard and entered the main room. Once inside, they forced all six men onto their knees and shot each man at least once in the head.
Five of the men were killed while the other one, though badly wounded, managed to survive and was later able to identify the killers.
It would later come to light that the intended targets were Yu Man Young, who managed the club and was an associate of Ping On and Cuong Khanh Luu, the same man who had survived an assassination attempt years earlier.
Fortunately for Young, the shooters ran out of bullets before they could shoot him. However, Luu and four other men were killed. Pak Wing Lee, who was badly wounded, managed to get to the back door and shout for help. A security guard at nearby New England Medical Center saw Lee and alerted the police.
After making entry into the club, the police came upon the horrific scene inside. Lee was taken to the hospital, where he remained under police guard.
Investigation
Thanks to Lee’s cooperation, the three shooters were identified, and a manhunt was underway to capture them. After the killings, Pham Tham and Tran drove to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to gamble and then went to New York, where they then flew to Hong Kong.
Eventually, Tham and Tran turned up in China, where they were locked up for drugs and other crimes. After negotiations with the Chinese government, Tham and Tran were extradited via Hong Kong in exchange for a Chinese national who was wanted in China for high-level fraud charges.
In October 2001, Tham and Tran were deported to Hong Kong and then extradited to the United States in December 2001. In October 2005, both men were convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences.
Hung Tien Pham
Hung Tien Pham, who allegedly orchestrated the killings, remains a fugitive. He had been described as a “rising star” in the Chinatown criminal underworld during the 1980s. He was a member of Ping On, with his own crew and a number of gambling houses under his control.
Pham reportedly had ties to other criminal networks in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto. He was known to have a flashy lifestyle and enjoyed expensive cars, gambling, and spending money. He was last seen in Thailand in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Today, Pham would be 65 years old. He is approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed between 115 and 135 pounds. In January 2021, on the 30th anniversary of the massacre, the FBI announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Sources:
MacNeill, Arianna. “30 years ago, three men shot six others in Chinatown. Today, 1 is still on the run.” 12 January 2021, Boston.com, https://www.boston.com/news/crime/2021/01/12/fbi-releases-information-reward-in-30-year-old-homicide/
“Boston Chinatown Massacre $30,000 reward for fugitive on anniversary of 1991 quintuple murders.” 12 January 2021, FBI.gov, https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/30000-reward-for-fugitive-on-anniversary-of-1991-boston-chinatown-massacre-011221
“HUNG TIEN PHAM.” 12 January 2021, https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/murders/hung-tien-pham
“The Chinatown Massacre: One of Boston's Deadliest Crimes, 30 Years Later.” NBC10 Boston, Uploaded 3 August 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCf4DGgYk6k
Be great if they created an age progression picture for people because he will look nothing like this probably. Great article.