Killing of ex called first-degree murder

Molly Ball

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

A man who admitted he shot his ex-girlfriend in the head outside a karaoke bar was convicted of first-degree murder Monday.

Vannasone "Sonny" Ouanbengboune, 34, was found guilty after a two-week trial in which his lawyers argued that he committed only second-degree murder -- killing in the heat of passion -- when he shot 38-year-old Raynna Bunyou outside the Bangkok Boom in August 2003.

First-degree murder must be either premeditated or committed in the process of a robbery. Prosecutors argued that both criteria were present because Ouanbengboune planned to take Bunyou's car after he killed her.

For his conviction on charges of murder with a deadly weapon and robbery, Ouanbengboune faces at least 40 years in prison.

The sentence is to be decided by the jury, which has three choices: a 100-year sentence; life in prison without possibility of parole; or life in prison with the possibility of parole after at least 40 years.

On Monday, the jurors began hearing witnesses as to prosecutors' contention that Ouanbengboune should get the maximum. Rules of evidence are looser in the penalty phase than during the trial; jurors can hear about the defendant's character and history.

A close friend of Bunyou, Sing Hoang, testified Monday that Ouanbengboune had threatened her life, too, and that she and Bunyou were both afraid of him.

Hoang said she didn't want to get involved in the couple's tumultuous relationship, but Ouanbengboune would call her to discuss his anger toward Bunyou.

During the trial, prosecutors made a case that Ouanbengboune had been plotting to kill Bunyou ever since February 2003, when she reported him for domestic violence, a charge on which he was eventually convicted and jailed.

The Metro Police officer who responded to Bunyou's call, Jason Hansen, testified Monday that he was alarmed by the incident.

Bunyou seemed "terrified" as she recounted that Ouanbengboune had locked her in the apartment the two shared and pistol-whipped her, Hansen said.

She said he had pulled a phone out of the wall and thrown her cell phone at a mirror -- shattering both phone and mirror. Then Ouanbengboune put a gun to her head and said "today she was going to die," Hansen said Bunyou told him.

Ouanbengboune, who denied everything, was arrested. Bunyou was called to testify against him, but she failed to appear in court twice.

When Hansen tracked down Bunyou, he found Ouanbengboune had called her more than 100 times from jail to pressure her to drop the charges and not testify, Hansen said.

Hansen then took the unusual step of picking up Bunyou on a material witness warrant because he felt strongly about the case. "I felt that if he was let out, it was going to be bad," Hansen said.

But Bunyou denied all her previous statements about the alleged abuse at Ouanbengboune's trial. He was sentenced to a month in custody on a reduced charge.

Jurors during the trial saw diary entries in which Ouanbengboune repeatedly cited the date of his arrest as the root of his rage.

The sentencing continues today before District Judge Jackie Glass.

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