‘Vicious’ killer of SF family gets 5 life terms

Binh Luc, 41, was sentenced to five consecutive terms of life without parole for the March 23, 2012 killing of the Lei family inside their Howth Street home. Binh Luc, 41, was sentenced to five consecutive terms of life without parole for the March 23, 2012 killing of the Lei family inside their Howth Street home. Photo: SFPD / / Photo: SFPD / / Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close ‘Vicious’ killer of SF family gets 5 life terms 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A plumber and gambler convicted in the massacre of a family of five in their San Francisco home, one of the worst mass murders in city history, was sentenced Thursday to five consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Wearing his orange jail-issued clothing and with his hands cuffed in front of him, 41-year-old Binh Luc said nothing as San Francisco Superior Court Judge Carol Yaggy handed down the punishment.

“Your actions on that horrific night were calculated, vicious and especially cruel,” Yaggy said. “You slaughtered a family in a way that was especially brutal. Nothing can erase the pain and heartbreak they feel, but this part of the horror is over.”

A jury in December found that Luc used a hammer to fatally bludgeon members of the Lei family in their Howth Street home on March 23, 2012. Along with five murder convictions, the jury found Luc guilty of five counts of attempted robbery and two counts of burglary.

Assistant District Attorney David Merin read a letter from Nicole Lei, whose siblings and parents were killed in the attack. She and her young daughter discovered the bodies.

“The pain is still in my heart and will follow me for the rest of my life,” the letter said. “There’s still sunny days even though I lost five of my loved ones. The court will give me the right answer I believe.”

Slain that night were Nicole Lei’s brother, Vincent Lei, 32; her 37-year-old sister, Ying Xue Lei; her father, Hua Shun Lei, 65; and her mother, Wan Yi Wu, 62. Vincent Lei’s wife, Chia Huei Chu, 30, was also killed.

“This will never bring back the losses to the family. This was a horrendous crime, where five people lost their lives, but we at least have some consolation that there’s accountability that’s going to be taking place,” District Attorney George Gascón said after the sentencing. “This individual will never do this to another family.”

Luc’s defense attorney, Mark Goldrosen, said his client will appeal.

At trial, Assistant District Attorney Eric Fleming, who has since been appointed as a San Francisco Superior Court judge, said Luc targeted the Lei family for robbery but ended up moving from room to room in the two-story home, beating each victim to death.

Prosecutors showed jurors photos of a chaotic crime scene that had been flooded with water and household cleaning products.

Facing eviction for not paying rent and on a losing streak at local casinos, Luc had been desperate for cash before the killings. Prosecutors said the Lei family kept thousands in cash inside their home, and that Luc knew Vincent Lei from mah-jongg games.

Luc was arrested shortly after the attack in a hotel in San Mateo, where he was found reading a Chronicle article about the massacre on his computer.

In 1998, Luc committed an armed robbery in a Chinese restaurant in San Jose, for which he served eight years in San Quentin State Prison. Authorities tried to deport him to his native Vietnam, but officials there refused to provide him with travel documents, and he was released from custody.