Jury begins deliberation in case of bookie’s 2019 killing in Huntington Beach

Attorneys on Thursday concluded their arguments in the case of a man accused of killing a bookie he worked for and owed about $60,000 to in Huntington Beach three years ago, then placed the matter into the hands of a jury.

More than a dozen friends and relatives of the victim, then 48-year-old Linh Ho of Fountain Valley, were present each day of trial, as were the parents of the defendant, Dennis Tri Gia Dang, 32, of Westminster, his attorney, Ricardo Nicol, said after jurors left court to begin their deliberations. He and witnesses described Ho as a close friend of Dang’s father and someone the defendant had looked up to.

The victim ran a sports betting operation, and Dang started working part time for him shortly after graduating from UC Irvine with a degree in criminal justice. The defendant would find gamblers interested in placing bets and collect payment from them if they lost. He and Ho developed what was described as a good working relationship and were in business together for about eight years.

But at some point, players Dang had recommended had wracked up debts totaling about $60,000. The morning before the Oct. 20, 2019 shooting, Ho told the defendant in a text message to meet him with the money “... or else you can’t blame me for what happens to you.”

Dang called Ho an “O.G.” in a recorded statement following his arrest and said he had been receiving threats from him in the weeks leading up to the killing. Nicol argued that his client feared for his life and acted in self-defense when he got into the victim’s silver Escalade in front of a restaurant near Warner Avenue and Magnolia Street and shot him once in the right temple.

“Linh Ho planned a confrontation with Dennis,” Nicol said. “Linh Ho was planning to get tough with Dennis, do what an ‘O.G.’ does to collect what they’re owed.”

However, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Janine Madera said there was no evidence to suggest Dang had any reasonable belief he was in imminent mortal danger. She pointed out that there were no threats of physical violence made by the defendant. He also chose to meet at an occupied strip mall in broad daylight and was unarmed.

“Linh Ho was such a tough guy, such an ‘O.G., that he brought car keys to a gun fight,” Madera said.

Dang had told a longtime friend, 34-year-old Casey Ngo of Midway City, about the money Ho was demanding and said he wasn’t going to be able to pay in full. The defendant said he expected the victim to be upset with him and asked Ngo to ride with him to their meeting but didn’t mention he was bringing a gun.

Nicol claimed that Dang wanted someone he could trust nearby in case he needed help. However, Madera noted they parked in a back lot, out of view of where the encounter with the victim took place. She suggested that was because Dang had already decided to kill Ho and set Ngo up as an unwitting getaway driver.

“He just didn’t want his best friend to see what he was going to do,” Madera said.

Dang told investigators Ho became aggressive when he told him he didn’t have all of the cash he had asked for. So, he pulled a gun out of his waistband and told Ho to stop threatening him. In his recorded statement he claimed the bookie reached at him in an apparent attempt to swat the weapon out of his face when he pulled the trigger.

The exchange unfolded over the course of less than a minute. Nicol suggested that his client was fearful and acted in the heat of the moment.

Dang then jumped into the passenger seat of his car and told Ngo to “just go,” the defendant’s friend recalled during testimony. He changed his clothes as they drove, just as he had shortly before the meeting. Madera argued Dang did that because he had planned his actions ahead of time and wanted to avoid being recognized at the scene of the crime.

Meanwhile, Ho stumbled out of the passenger side of an SUV and collapsed onto a nearby patch of grass. Good Samaritans and first responders came to his aid, but he died six days later in a hospital.

“It’s a hard thing to kill someone, especially someone you’ve known for that long. Maybe he wishes he didn’t. But the law doesn’t do Mulligans,” Madera said Wednesday just before displaying a photo of the victim in court. “This was Linh Ho. He was 48. He doesn’t get to come back.”

Surveillance footage led Huntington Beach police to identify Dang as a suspect. During his initial interview with officers, he denied being at the strip mall on the day of the shooting. But he later acknowledged his role in it after investigators told them they had footage placing him at the scene.

Dang went on to provide the recorded statements that were presented as evidence with what his attorney characterized as “an air of resignation. He was resigned to the fact that everything was going to come out.”

However, Madera pointed out that the defendant has an education in criminal justice and was well aware that what he said at that time would likely be played to jurors if he was put on trial.

Dang did not testify during his murder trial. Whether or not jurors believe the account of events he gave to police will be a key factor in deciding the outcome of the case.

“You’re going to have to deal with a lot of black, white and a lot of shades of gray,” Nicol told jurors before they began deliberations.

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