The Samurai Sword Murders

The Samurai Sword Murders started out as a vicious brawl on the dance floor of the Salt Nightclub in South Yarra on July 8, 2002. A Supreme Court jury was told the murders happened after one of the victims’ brothers; hit one of the murderers with a bottle inside the nightclub as revenge for a brawl at Crown Casino's Odeon nightclub that happened several days earlier.

During the seven-month trial, one of the longest in Victorian history, jurors heard James Huynh, 19, was chased from the nightclub down Chapel St in South Yarra before being hacked to death with samurai swords and knives close to the Yarra River on July 8, 2002. He received multiple stab wounds and his hand was almost severed in the attack.

His two cousins Nam, 21, and Viet Huynh, 25, drowned after jumping into the river to escape their attackers, fearing they would be chopped up.

Handing down his sentence, Justice Robert Redlich described Viet Huynh and Nam Huynh jumping into the Yarra as an act of desperation. He described the murder of James Huynh as a savage, frenzied and ferocious act.

Cuong Quoc Lam , 26, of Sunshine; Hung Tu Van, 29 of Footscray; Linh Van Nguyen, 26 of Altona Meadows; Thanh Nha Nguyen, 25 of St Albans; Long Thanh Tran, 23 of Footscray; Hong Bui, 23 of St Albans; and Hoang Quang Tran, 23 of Sunshine were found guilty of murdering James Huynh.

Cuong Quoc Lam and Hung Tu Van were also found guilty of the murders of Nam and Viet Huynh.