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FBI, BPD offering $30K reward for information on alleged killer in 1991 Boston Chinatown Massacre

BOSTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Boston Police are offering a $30,000 reward in hopes of learning the whereabouts of a man suspected in the execution-style murders of five men in 1991. That man, who officials identified as Hung Tien Pham, was last seen in Thailand in the mid to late 1990s.

The FBI alleged that Pham and two others shot six men execution-style as they played cards at a social club on Tyler Street in Boston on January 12, 1991. Five of those men died, while the sixth survived and identified the suspects, two of whom were arrested in 1998 in China.

Those two men, identified as Nam The Tham and Siny Van Tran, were extradited back to Boston in 2005, where they were later given multiple life sentences. The shooting, which happened 30 years ago to date, has become known as the ‘Boston Chinatown Massacre,’ officials said.

“There’s no such thing as ‘this happened years ago, eh, why are we worried,’” said Boston Police Commissioner William Gross. “Talk to a family member that’s lost someone.”

Pham, a Vietnamese national of Chinese descent, would be 60 years old now, according to the FBI. In 1991, he was described as five-foot-three with black hair, brown eyes and a weight of 115 to 135 pounds.

“This cold-blooded killer has been on the run for 30 years, and we’re hoping this reward will incentivize anyone with information on Pham’s whereabouts to come forward,” said FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta.

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“By all accounts, he was the linchpin of the execution of the homicides,” added FBI Special Agent Tom Zukauskas.

There is still no motive for the shootings, law enforcement said. Pham, who officials allege was associated with the Ping On crime syndicate throughout North America, is said to have fled to Atlantic City following the shooting. He then allegedly traveled to New York City where he boarded a flight to Hong Kong.

“We’re looking for any information that can lead us to locating and apprehending Pham,” Special Agent Zukauskas said. “We’re hoping to put all these pieces together.”

“I would like to think that anybody that had any substantive information about his whereabouts would look to do the right thing and report,” SAC Bonavolonta said.

“We don’t give up on cold cases, especially of this magnitude, that affected our community as much as these crimes did.”

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