Conviction in slaying over 'existence of God'

Updated 4:40 pm, Thursday, September 5, 2013


"An Oakland man has been convicted of first-degree murder for using an assault rifle to gun down a friend and wound another during an argument over the existence of God. Douglas Yim, 33, was found guilty by an Alameda County jury on Tuesday of killing Dzuy Dunh Phan, 25, of Alameda. Yim was also convicted of assault with a firearm and mayhem for wounding Paul Park of El Sobrante. He faces more than 100 years in prison at a November sentencing." [editor's note: Not sure I even want to know which side of the argument he was on! - SAT] (09/05/13)

An Oakland man has been convicted of first-degree murder for using an assault rifle to gun down a friend and wound another during an argument over the existence of God.

Douglas Yim, 33, was found guilty by an Alameda County jury on Tuesday of killing Dzuy Dunh Phan, 25, of Alameda. Yim was also convicted of assault with a firearm and mayhem for wounding Paul Park of El Sobrante.

He faces more than 100 years in prison at a November sentencing.

Yim's attorney, Mario Andrews, said Thursday that his client "is not denying he shot Mr. Phan. It is our contention that the killing was manslaughter" because Yim was provoked.

On April 2, 2011, Yim invited the two men to his home on Herriott Avenue in Maxwell Park to hang out and play video games, said Deputy District Attorney Allyson Donovan.

All three men were using alcohol and drugs when Yim began arguing with Phan "about the existence of God and religion," Donovan said.

Andrews said his client "is a religious man. He was trying to see if he could get Mr. Phan to become more religious."

Park testified that Phan asked Yim why God wasn't present whenever Yim lost a video game - and when Yim's father had died several years earlier.

The victims tried to calm Yim, and at one point Phan told Yim that if he wouldn't calm down, he should just get his gun.

Yim got up, walked into his back bedroom and retrieved an AR-15 assault rifle that he illegally possessed, the prosecutor said.

Yim shot Park through the wrist before shooting Phan six times - in the chest, stomach, arms, hand and in the head at close range, authorities said.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee

 

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Conviction-in-slaying-over-existence-of-God-4790034.php