2 weeks Ago By Perry Duffin
Warning: Graphic content A woman abducted from her home and found dead in a burned-out car is believed to be an innocent, targeted and killed by a gang seeking revenge after their drugs were stolen. The horrific murder bears hallmarks of a sophisticated organised crime group after police tracked the vehicles used to abduct the woman before her death. Police say a 45-year-old woman, Thi Kim Tran, was at her Bankstown home with a young child and teenager when a group of masked men burst in.
The intruders bashed an eight-year-old boy in the head with a baseball bat and forced Tran at gunpoint into a black SUV waiting outside. The SUV and a white sedan sped away from the home, leaving the injured boy with a 15-year-old who had witnessed the abduction. An hour later, just before midnight, police were told a car was alight in neighbouring Beverly Hills.
Inside the car was the body of Tran, who police believe had been executed by her kidnappers. A manhunt is under way to find the men who abducted and killed Tran and those higher up the chain who ordered the heinous crime. Their investigations began with the burned-out car.
Police managed to match the torched car to one which had been stolen this year from the inner city. Investigators believe the thieves were youths who steal and sell cars to the underworld for use in drive-by shootings and other crimes. Such “kill cars” have been used in most recent hits involving Sydney’s gangland figures and suggest large amounts of money changed hands before Tran’s death.
Publicly, police have only said the murder was “targeted” rather than a random act of violence. But the Herald can reveal police suspect Tran was murdered because someone close to her had ripped off a gang involved in drug production. Tran is not believed to have been involved in any criminality and may not have been aware she was in any danger.
The murder holds similarities to another case a decade earlier in the same suburb of Sydney. Thi Kim Lien Do’s badly decomposed body was found in West Hoxton nine months after she was murdered in a Canley Vale home. Do was innocent of any wrongdoing, but her boyfriend, Son Thanh Nguyen, had been working as a drug cook and his boss suspected him of stealing methamphetamine.
A group of five men broke into the home and executed the cook. Ms Do was killed simply for being at the home at the same time. Drug boss Dung Thi Ngo, 43, and her associate, Kevin Ly, 27, were each found guilty and sentenced to 30 years’ prison for the murders in 2019.
There is no suggestion Tran’s husband, who was out of the state during her murder, was involved in any wrongdoing. Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.
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