Several images of Philong Huynh were presented June 9 to the jury, showing him on the very striped blanket that was allegedly found wrapped around murder victim Dane Williams.
Huynh, 40, of City Heights, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Williams, 23, of Huntington Beach, in January 2008. Williams’ body was found inside a blanket about 800 feet from Huynh’s home.
The photos were taken from Huynh’s computer, which was seized as evidence when he was arrested in 2009. His attorneys objected to the showing of the photo to the jury because one of them showed Huynh’s genitals.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill overruled the objection, but Deputy District Attorney David Hendren showed the photo with a white box digitally inserted onto the photo. The evidence was presented by Craig Porter, an FBI computer expert who discussed what he found on Huynh’s computer.
Huynh’s face was not in the semi-nude shot and he was wearing a shirt, but the photo appeared to be taken in his residence. The two other facial shots of Huynh were shown with the same striped blanket behind his head on his bed.
Porter was asked if the striped blanket in the three photos was the same blanket Hendren showed him. “They do appear similar,” said Porter.
Terry Zimmerman, Huynh’s attorney, objected saying Porter was not an expert in identifying evidence at crime scenes and called it “improper and inappropriate” for him to be asked about it. Zimmerman said “it is for the jury to decide” whether it was the same blanket.
O’Neill overruled her objections.
Williams was attending a convention related to his job at Hurley International, a sportswear retailer, when he vanished Jan. 26, 2008, after being seen under the influence of alcohol in the Gaslamp Quarter. His body was found three days later surrounded by Huynh’s alleged striped blanket that was covered in dog hair prosecutors believed to be from Huynh’s mother’s dog.
Prosecutors said DNA evidence showed that Huynh’s semen was found in the victim’s mouth, anus and shirt. He also had tranquilizers in his system and his blood/alcohol level at death was .17, twice the legal limit for drunk driving.
A criminalist testified June 8 about Huynh’s DNA profile and said there was no contamination in the samples he obtained.
His attorneys told the jury the cause of death was undetermined by the county’s medical examiner after many months of tests. Williams was found fully clothed, but his underwear was missing.
Porter told jurors there were approximately 3,000 e-mails on Huynh’s computer, and he had five e-mail addresses. Huynh had visited many online gay web sites.
Porter said Huynh had done Google searches for male rape. Also on his computer were Craigslist ads Huynh had apparently posted with sexual suggestions and banter with men who responded to them.
Huynh is also accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 20-year-old sailor in 2009 who gave his cell phone number to police. That sailor is now in Iraq, but his videotaped testimony from the preliminary hearing in 2010 was shown to the jury. Huynh has pleaded not guilty and remains in the central jail without bail.
This guys is pure evil. I was there in the jury box before having to step down, and you could feel his evil presence. I hope the jurors convict this man.
This story is just so disturbing. In the opening statement the DA alluded to several more alleged rapes, and there are said to be dozens (possibly 60) other young men the defendant had raped using the same methods.