Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet Daily News
Santa Ana, Calif. – Barbara Ann Hamel said on the stand Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court that she never meant to kill a 55-year-old man nearly five years ago when she drove over him. Instead, she said, she was trying to escape.
Barbara Ann Hamel is on trial for the September 3, 2010 murder of Chi Ngoc Bui, 55.
(Photo courtesy Santa Ana Police Department)
Hamel is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 3, 2010, death of Chi Ngoc Bui, killed after he left a casino with thousands of dollars.
Prosecutors said Hamel and two others, Tad Allen Carroll, 46, and Michael William Ross, 30, targeted Bui after he went to the Hawaiian Gardens Casino that night and followed him home with the intent to rob him. Ross saw him cash out $10,000 worth of chips and made the call to Hamel and Carroll, who were waiting in the parking lot for the call and followed Bui, prosecutors said. When he stopped at the curb in front of the Santa Ana home of his companion, Kim Nguyen, they cornered him with their Pontiac Grand Prix, according to prosecutors, who said Carroll got out of the car, threatened Bui with a knife and then beat him to the ground. Carroll then got back into the car with an undisclosed amount of money, and Hamel, the driver, ran over Bui’s head, killing him instantly, prosecutors said.
All three later were apprehended and entered guilty pleas in the involvment in Bui’s death. Ross was sentenced to 15 years to life for felony murder, robbery and attempted robbery, while Carroll pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received 25 years to life. Hamel, who had signed a written statement admitting to being involved in the murder in late 2013, backed out of the deal in February 2014 after the judge read her sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
She apologized to the victim’s family, saying she was drugged by her co-defendants and would “never kill anyone, intentionally or unintentionally.” She then requested to have her hair tested for GHB, a date-rape drug that she said she believed Ross had given her prior to the events of that night. Because the plea deal was withdrawn, Hamel’s court case was sent back to the pre-trial phase and the trial finally began this month.
When Hamel took the stand Tuesday, she told defense attorney Ken Norelli she unknowingly drank a bottle of Sunkist laced with GHB given to her by Ross, whom she says was a drug dealer she and Carroll were working under. She said that after she drank the warm soda, she became lethargic and “woozy, like something out of a National Geographic documentary, where they tranquilize an animal.” She said she was vaguely aware of the plans Ross and Carroll had to commit robbery and was in the car when the robbery took place. She testified she got behind the wheel in an attempt to get away from the scene.
Tad Allen Carroll has been sentenced to 25 years to life for his role in Bui’s murder.
(Photo courtesy Santa Ana Police Department)
“The only thing in my head was I needed to get out of that place when I realized Mr. Carroll was doing something I didn’t want to be a part of,” Hamel said. She added she had been seated in the front passenger seat as Carroll followed Bui and cornered him as he dropped off his friend. Carroll then got out of the car, threatened Bui with the knife and beat him, she testified. While that was happening, Hamel said, she moved to the driver’s seat, and when Carroll got back into the car, she drove off. She said she felt as if she had run over two “speed bumps” and said to Carroll, “What the hell was that?” and he replied, “Him.”
She testified she still felt groggy and didn’t realize she had killed Bui until she was taken into custody and her lawyer told her Bui had died.
During his cross examination, Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin refuted Hamel’s claim that she was drugged and questioned how she could be “unconscious” and “unaware” if she knew to wait for Carroll, move to the driver’s side and then drive away. She said she was “Gumby-like” and awake but not in her “right mind.”
Lien Bui, 71, said that since nearly five years have passed since his younger brother’s death, the feeling isn’t as raw.
“If the defendants would just accept their guilt and take responsibility, there would be a sense of
justice but it hasn’t happened yet,” he said, adding he was frustrated that Hamel changed her story and withdrew her guilty plea, drawing this out.
Hamel faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life without the possibility of parole if convicted. Had she accepted the plea deal, she would have received 15 years to life but would have had a chance at parole.
The trial is expected to last until Thursday, when final arguments will be presented and jury deliberations will begin.
