Suspect denies intern’s slaying

A San Diego man pleaded not guilty Tuesday in the killing and sexual assault of Dane Williams, almost two years after the Huntington Beach resident who worked in Costa Mesa went missing for three days and was found dead.

Philong Huynh, 39, was charged with one count of murder and one count of sexual assault for allegedly drugging and raping Williams. He was also charged with an additional count of sexual assault for a separate case. Huynh was arrested Thursday by the San Diego Police Department. The second sexual assault case helped shed light on Williams’ death, police said.

Williams went missing Jan. 26, 2008, after leaving a nightclub in San Diego. Authorities found the 23-year-old’s body three days later in a neighborhood alley three miles away. After the initial coroner’s report, authorities found DNA evidence of an unidentified person.

A DNA link to the second sexual assault was found Aug. 19, said San Diego Police Department Lt. Kevin Rooney. The second victim lived.

Through the cooperation of the second victim and the work of the police department, authorities were able to identify Huynh, Rooney said. The police obtained search warrants for two of Huynh’s residences — his official residence, where he appeared to not live, and his real home only 800 feet from where Williams’ body was apparently dumped, Rooney said.

Huynh is being held in the San Diego Central Jail on $500,000 bail.

The Williams family declined to comment on the case.

The night Williams disappeared, he was in San Diego for a convention for the Hurley International Company, where he was a marketing intern. After the convention, Williams went to the Hard Rock Cafe, where he was last seen leaving at 2 a.m. A video showed Williams walking erratically as he left that night, Rooney said.

The toxicology report showed Williams’ blood-alcohol level was more than twice what is legally considered intoxicated. The report also found trace amounts of quinine, which is found in tonic water, and diazepam, or Valium.