Slaying of girfriend labeled as a crime of passion

Jace Radke

Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004 | 9:42 a.m.

Defense attorneys for a man accused of killing his girlfriend outside a Las Vegas karaoke bar admitted to a jury Wednesday that their client did it, but, they argued, it was a crime of passion.

The trial of Vannasone "Sonny" Quanbengboune, who is accused of shooting Raynna Bunyou to death in August 2003, began Wednesday with opening arguments before District Judge Jackie Glass.

"The emotions he was feeling in his heart at the time he pulled the trigger is what makes the difference in this case," Deputy Public Defender Abel Yanez said of Quanbengboune.

Yanez asked the jury to find Quanbengboune, 34, guilty of second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder.

According to state law first-degree murder is premeditated with punishments ranging from a minimum of 20 years in prison without parole to the death penalty. Second-degree murder, covers all other types of murder and carries a possible sentence of 10 years to life.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens said that Quanbengboune was angry with Bunyou, has a history of domestic violence and that he had threatened to kill her in the past.

Bunyou, 38, was shot first in the thigh and than fatally in the head in the early morning hours of Aug. 7, 2003, outside of the Bangkok Boom restaurant, 3111 S. Valley View Blvd., near Desert Inn Road.

Along with the murder charge Quanbengboune is also charged with robbery because he allegedly fled in Bunyou's car after the shooting. Quanbengboune was arrested about a week later by FBI agents in Oklahoma City.

Quanbengboune previously had been arrested in February 2003 and pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor battery against Bunyou. Yanez said that Bunyou exaggerated the incident to police, saying that she was beaten and threatened with a gun.

Yanez told the jury that Bunyou's testimony in that case revealed that she was hit once by Quanbengboune, and that's why he wound up with only a misdemeanor charge.

Owens said that Quanbengboune was angry about being jailed in connection with his battery arrest, Owens said.

"I will never forget Feb. 21, 2003 ... no prisoner, young dragon," Owens read from Quanbengboune's journal.

The first witness in the case was a friend of Bunyou's who often sang karaoke with her. Sing Hoang described her friend as, "full of life and happy," but added that she often became very afraid of Quanbengboune.

Hoang testified that Bunyou was afraid to look Quanbengboune in the eye.

Yanez explained to the jury that Quanbengboune moved to Oregon to be with Bunyou after meeting her in an Internet chat room and developing a "deep and passionate" relationship.

"He reached his boiling point in another heated argument, and this time gave into those passions, emotions and feelings," Yanez said.

Among the witnesses scheduled to testify this week and next week are Metro Police detectives, crime scene analysts and witnesses to the shooting at the Bangkok Boom.