Charges Filed Against Man Accused of Killing Five in Ingleside Home

Prosecutors on Wednesday filed murder charges against a man accused of killing five people in a home in San Francisco's Ingleside neighborhood on Friday.

Binh Thai Luc, 35, was arrested Sunday morning in connection with the grisly killing of three women and two men inside a home at 16 Howth St. near City College of San Francisco.

Luc, a San Francisco resident, was charged Tuesday with five counts of murder with special circumstances for committing multiple murders, district attorney's office spokesman Omid Talai said.

He is expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon, Talai said.

The case was reported at 7:45 a.m. Friday by a family member who entered the home and called 911 after encountering three of the bodies. Police responded and found two others dead in the home.

The medical examiner's office on Monday released the identities of the victims but has not released their cause of death, although police Chief Greg Suhr said some type of "edged weapon" was used.

The women were identified as Wan Yi Xu, 62; Chia Huei Chu, 30; and Ying Xue Lei, 37, and the men were identified as Hua Shun Lei, 65, and Vincent Lei, 32.

Police have said four of the five victims were family members but have yet to say what the relationship was. Suhr also said investigators believe Luc had some sort of relationship with the victims but declined to elaborate.

Mayor Ed Lee, speaking tuesday at an unrelated event, called the killings a "horrible tragedy."

Lee said that one of the victims, Hua Shun Lei, worked as a chef at R&G Lounge, which he called "one of my favorite restaurants in Chinatown."

He said, "My heart goes out to that whole family."

Lee also addressed information revealed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Monday indicating that Luc was ordered deported from the country in 2006 after finishing a prison term for a violent robbery a decade earlier.

However, authorities in Luc's native country of Vietnam declined to provide the appropriate travel documents for his deportation and he ultimately was released from ICE custody after 180 days because of a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling preventing the extended detention of an illegal alien.

Lee said the case shows the need to reform the nation's immigration policy to provide another alternative in a case like Luc's.

"There wasn't anything we could possibly do locally," he said.

Luc's brother, Brian Luc, 32, was also arrested Sunday on unrelated drug and weapons charges.

The brothers live together at a home in San Francisco although Suhr said Binh Thai Luc was not arrested at home.

Police are still investigating the deaths. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Police Department's homicide detail at (415) 553-1451, the anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.

--Bay City News