In the early morning hours of a snowy January 12, 1991, in Boston's Chinatown, an Asian man named Man Cheung was inside an illegal gambling den located in the basement of 85 Tyler Street. The atmosphere of the social club, where Cheung and others were playing cards, was shattered at approximately 3:30 a.m. when three men burst in. The assailants, identified as Siny Van Tran, Nam The Tham, and Hung Tien Pham, initiated a robbery that quickly escalated into a brutal execution.
The patrons
were ordered to the ground, and what followed was a horrific act of violence that would become known as the Boston Chinatown massacre. According to testimony from a survivor, Siny Van Tran shot Man Cheung twice in the head. In the span of about five to six minutes, the gunmen systematically shot six men, leaving a scene of carnage. Cheung, along with four other men, succumbed to his injuries at the scene. A sixth victim was critically wounded but managed to survive. Investigators later noted that the killings were carried out execution-style, with gunpowder residue indicating the firearms were discharged at very close range.
The motive for the massacre was believed to be a power struggle for control of the gambling rackets in Boston's Chinatown between rival gangs. Following the killings, the three perpetrators fled. An extensive international manhunt ensued for the suspects. It wasn't until 2001, after years of investigation and delicate negotiations, that two of the suspects, Siny Van Tran and Nam The Tham, were extradited from China. In 2005, both men were convicted of the murders and are now serving life sentences. The third suspect, Hung Tien Pham, remains at large.
