Man gets life in prison for killing MGM worker

Friday, Oct. 30, 1998 | 12:02 p.m.

Vinh Sinh Truong pleaded guilty in December to killing Lisa Sadie while she worked the graveyard shift at a hotel restaurant on Oct. 19, 1996.

He admitted guilt without benefit of a plea bargain and had been planning to go before a three-judge panel. In most cases, such panels have sentenced the defendant to death.

Instead, in September, the 23-year-old Truong accepted a prosecutor's offer of consecutive sentences of life in prison without parole.

"I'm sorry," Truong said Thursday, turning to Ms. Sadie's parents, who had opted not speak at the sentencing.

The victim's father, Joe Sadie, jumped to his feet and responded, "Great ... you think that's going to bring her back?"

Ms. Sadie had been studying film at UNLV during the day and working nights as the head cashier at the Studio Cafe to pay for her education.

Truong had been a food server at the restaurant. He was fired from that job just a few days before the killing.

Police say they believe the murder was part robbery, part revenge, and that Ms. Sadie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Truong hit her over the head with a ketchup bottle then stabbed her to death and left her to die inside the restaurant's business office.

Truong was still wearing blood-soaked clothing when police took him into custody a few hours after the slaying. He confessed to the murder and led police to some evidence, according to court documents.

Before he was sentenced Truong told District Judge Jeffrey Sobel that his public defender coerced him into pleading guilty and he wanted to withdraw the plea and go to trial.

Sobel denied the motion and told Truong that given the possibility of a death sentence, and the strength of the case against him, he considered the sentencing agreement a "wise choice."