Man guilty in Circus Circus murders; relatives speak of ‘endless sorrow’

A Las Vegas jury has found a 37-year-old man guilty of killing two Vietnamese tour leaders in their Circus Circus hotel room in 2018.

Jurors will now decide whether Julius Trotter should die for the murders. The jury deliberated for just over an hour on Monday, and under two hours on Tuesday morning before returning with the guilty verdict.

Trotter was convicted of two counts of murder with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary with a deadly weapon. He was accused of breaking into a hotel room with a broken lock at Circus Circus and fatally stabbing tourists Sang Nghia and Khuong Nguyen on June 1, 2018.

Cries were heard from both sides of the courtroom gallery as the verdict was read Tuesday morning. Trotter shook his head, glancing repeatedly at the jury as a clerk announced the verdicts.

The penalty phase of the trial began Tuesday afternoon with testimony from Nghia’s daughter and husband, as well as Nguyen’s mother. The defense is expected to continue calling witnesses on Wednesday before the jury begins deliberations on Trotter’s sentence.

Prosecutors argued that Trotter broke into the Circus Circus hotel room during a “door push” while he was trying to find easily accessible hotel rooms to steal tourists’ belongings.

‘They did not deserve this’

Trotter was seen on surveillance footage in a Circus Circus elevator in the tower Nghia and Nguyen were staying in. About 45 minutes later, surveillance footage captured him returning to his room and quickly checking out. He then stopped at an ATM and checked into the Palms casino, where he began gambling.

He was arrested days later in Chino, California, where he and his ex-girlfriend had led police on a car chase, prosecutors said.

“We have two completely innocent people who were savagely murdered by the defendant in what they assumed was the safety and security of their own hotel room,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck told the jury during closing arguments Monday. “They did nothing to contribute to their own demise. They did not deserve this.”

Lisa Rasmussen, one of Trotter’s defense attorneys, said during closing arguments that there was not enough forensic evidence tying Trotter to the hotel room where Nghia and Nguyen were killed. She said Trotter’s DNA and fingerprints were not found in the hotel room.

Police found stolen items belonging to Nghia and Nguyen with Trotter when he was arrested. A pair of shoes found with him also had traces of the victims’ blood, along with Trotter’s DNA.

Defense attorneys argued that Trotter wears a different shoe size than the shoes with blood on them.

At least one juror was seen wiping tears from their eyes as the family members answered prosecutors’ questions and read statements they prepared about Nghia and Nguyen. At times, the translators’ voices were thick with emotion as they conveyed the family members’ words to the jury.

Nghia’s daughter testified through a video call from Australia. She said that her mother was a “best friend” to her, her sister and their younger brother. She was 12 years old when her mother was killed, and said it felt like “everything collapsed” when she heard the news.

“Even though six years have been passing by, the three of us still cannot overcome that monumental loss,” Yen My Nguyen, who is not related to Khuong Nguyen, said through a translator. “We still carry the endless sorrow when we see the other families have all their members together, and they receive the complete love of moms and dads, but not us.”

Hung Nguyen, Nghia’s husband who is also not related to Khuong Nguyen, told jurors he met his wife while attending college in 1997. They fell in love and were married in 2005 before having two daughters and adopting their young son.

Nghia was the president of their tour guide company, and by 2018 they employed up to 80 people.

Hung Nguyen spoke against the “rumors” presented during trial that his wife and Khuong Nguyen were sharing a room because they were having an affair. Defense attorneys had argued the killing may have been a targeted hit, or sexual in nature, although prosecutors argued the two decided to share a room at the last minute and that Khuong Nguyen was gay.

“She texted me, sharing with me the changing of the accommodation,” Hung Nguyen said through a translator. “And I trust my wife totally regarding that arrangement. Therefore, the rumors about the relationship between her and Khuong are totally false.”

‘He robbed everything from me’

Hung Nguyen said that losing his wife and lifelong companion is a “monumental loss” that cannot be replaced.

“To me, losing a person that you trust and love, nothing else matters,” he said. “House, diamonds, whatever you possess in your whole life. Meaningless. All we need is the love that we lost.”

Khuong Nguyen’s mother, Bong Le, said that her husband had a stroke and passed away shortly after hearing news of his death. Because her other son died years before Khuong Nguyen was killed, Le said she is left with no one to “lean on” in her life.

“He robbed everything from me,” Le said about Trotter.

She described her son as a “loving guy,” who worked to support his parents after his brother died. She said Khuong Nguyen’s dream was to travel the world.

“Khuong was our joy and hope of the entire family,” she said.

She urged the jury to give “fair justice” for her son and Nghia, although she did not specify if she wanted to see Trotter sentenced to die. Le said that as she sat in her empty house over the past six years, surrounded by photographs of her sons and husband, she told herself to keep going in order to witness this trial.

“Even though I don’t know the language of you all here … I can feel through your actions, your understanding eyes, and sympathy for the loss and the pain that I have to endure,” Le told the jury through the translator.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.