Man Held in Decapitation Death of Wife in Germany

A Vietnamese man charged with the mutilation murder of his wife in West Berlin was quietly arrested Wednesday at a Garden Grove video store by Orange County sheriff’s investigators and U.S. marshals, ending a yearlong search.

Although German officials sought the help of foreign police and government agencies in arresting the man, it was Orange County sheriff’s investigators who ultimately broke the case, Dieter Ernst, a prosecutor from West Berlin, told The Times.

An investigator for the Sheriff’s Criminal Activities unit--unaware of the international arrest request--developed information that an unnamed Garden Grove man was wanted in Germany for allegedly hacking his wife up and dumping the body parts in a river, Ernst and sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s investigators would not elaborate on the nature of the information that led to the arrest.

Quang Khanh Dam, 33, was taken into custody about 1 p.m. at Victory Video in Garden Grove, where he had been working for only a few days as a sales clerk, Lt. Dick Olson, a sheriff’s spokesman, said.

Olson said Dam was brought before a federal magistrate in Los Angeles for arraignment on Wednesday afternoon and was to be held at Terminal Island federal prison pending extradition proceedings.

Dam is expected to be returned to Germany, where he will stand trial on the murder charge, which is a capital offense and can be punished by death, Ernst said. Ernst, who arrived in Orange County on Monday to take part in the arrest, said the investigation began in West Germany last spring.

Ernst and sheriff’s investigators said the warrant charges Dam with the slaying of his 28-year-old wife Thi Qui Dam. Parts of her body were discovered by boaters in two different rivers near West Berlin last February, Ernst said.

Ernst said the woman had been decapitated, disemboweled and had had her arms and legs cut off. Her torso had been cut in half, he said.

“Her body . . . was cut into several parts (and) probably dumped into one river and found in two,” Ernst said. “We believe she was killed around the beginning of February.”

Separated From Husband

Ernst, a homicide prosecutor, said West Berlin police initially searched for the woman as a missing person, although he declined to say how her disappearance had been reported to authorities.

The Vietnamese-born Thi Dam worked as a department store sales clerk in West Berlin, where she and her husband had lived for about two years, Ernst said.

Two months before her death, Ernst said, she separated from her husband, an employee of the Gillette Co. razor and blade manufacturing plant, and Dam moved out of their apartment.

Fausch said 50 to 60 Indochinese worked at the plant, mostly in unskilled jobs involving the assembly and packaging of razors and blades.

When parts of Thi Dam’s body were discovered in April, 1984, Ernst said, her husband “became a suspect.”

Ernst said Thi Dam “had a boyfriend--and this might be of importance” to the case.

In interviews with the couple’s family and friends, Ernst said, he learned that Dam had relatives in Orange County.

But West Berlin authorities had been unable to locate Dam and did not get their first substantial lead until mid-December, Ernst said.

Meanwhile, an investigator with the Orange County sheriff’s criminal activity unit independently developed information last month that a local Indochinese man was wanted by German authorities for the murder of his wife, Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Simon said.

Olson said the investigator determined the suspect’s name and “recovered several documents pertaining to Mr. Dam.”

Wanted for Murder

Sheriff’s investigators then notified West German consular officials in Los Angeles and learned that Dam was wanted for murder.

Olson said West German authorities confirmed that Dam was suspected in his wife’s murder and said they believed he had fled to San Jose, Calif.--which, like Orange County, has a large Indochinese refugee community. Documents concerning the West German case, along with extradition papers and a request to locate and hold Dam for German authorities were turned over to the county authorities via the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, Olson said.

After the Sheriff’s Department swapped information with the West Berlin prosecutor’s office, Olson said, the agencies began planning how to arrest Dam.

Olson said sheriff’s investigators were able to trace Dam’s travels to Belgium, New York, Los Angeles and the Westminster-Garden Grove area, where he finally settled. Dam has been staying in the United States on a one-year visa, Olson said.

A federal warrant allowing for Dam’s arrest in this country was approved by the U.S. District Court on Tuesday. Investigators decided, however, that it would be safer to wait and arrest Dam when he arrived at work Wednesday, Simon said.

A man who identified himself as Mr. Ho, the manager of the video store where Dam was arrested, said Wednesday that Dam was not actually employed there because he had no Social Security number.

Ho said he had known Dam “a few months” and had attended Dam’s wedding “a few months ago,” after Dam’s arrival in Orange County.

“A few days ago, he come looking for a job,” Ho said. “He come from Germany and didn’t have Social Security . . . we couldn’t hire him.”

Ho said he did not know where Dam currently lived.

“He looked nice,” Ho said. “I know he come from Germany. Everyone know. He had passport to come visit in United States.” Ho said Dam had never mentioned a wife in West Berlin.