A jury in Clark County District Court has convicted a man of breaking into a room at a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino and robbing and killing two Vietnamese tour leaders in June 2018. The defendant, 37-year-old Julius Damiano Deangilo Trotter, faces potential sentencing of death or life in prison after being found guilty on charges of murder, burglary, and robbery with a weapon. The victims, Sang Boi Nghia, 38, and Khoung Ba Le Nguyen, 30, were discovered dead at the Circus Circus hotel after they failed to show up for a tour group trip.
Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Nghia owned a tour business with her husband in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Nguyen was an employee of the business. The tragic incident came to light on June 1, 2018, when hotel staff found the bodies of the victims in their room, which had a faulty door lock.
Trotter was identified as a suspect in the case and was apprehended along with his girlfriend, Itaska Dean, following a police chase in Chino, California. At the time of the crime, Trotter was on probation for a previous offense. While Dean pleaded guilty to evading arrest, she was not implicated in the murders and testified against Trotter during the trial.
During the proceedings, Trotter claimed that a friend had given him items belonging to Nghia and Nguyen to sell. However, prosecutors presented video evidence showing Trotter in possession of the victims' belongings, including a purse, wallets, a cellphone, jewelry, watches, and Vietnamese currency. The prosecution emphasized that Nghia and Nguyen were innocent individuals who did not deserve such a tragic fate.
Defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen argued that forensic evidence linking Trotter to the crime scene was lacking, as his DNA and fingerprints were not found in the hotel room. The jury deliberated for about three hours before reaching a unanimous verdict, and the penalty phase of the trial is currently underway.
