CHP Officer’s Killer Sentenced to Die

SANTA ANA —  A gang leader received the death sentence Friday for the 1996 killing of a California Highway Patrol rookie, as the officer’s family laid bare their emotions.

Hung Thanh Mai, 29, of Anaheim sat stiffly as Superior Court Judge Richard Weatherspoon rendered his decision, calling the killing of Officer Don Burt Jr. a cold-blooded execution.

The officer’s widow, 32-year-old Kristin Burt, told Weatherspoon: “For every bullet that entered my husband’s body and inflicted pain upon him, this animal deserves the death penalty. . . .

“And the one thing that I will never, ever forgive him for is leaving my son without a father,” said Burt, who was seven months pregnant when her husband died.

The slain officer’s father, CHP Officer Don Burt Sr., said that “over the last three years, 11 months and 11 days, I pondered the just punishment. The Mr. Mai I have seen is a sad parasite, a pathetic, loathsome individual.”

Mai shot patrolman Burt in a Fullerton parking lot nearly four years ago after a routine traffic stop. The officer had found counterfeit traveler’s checks in the trunk of Mai’s car. Before he had a chance to confront Mai, the slightly built gang member got out of the car firing a 9-millimeter semiautomatic weapon. As Burt lay wounded, Mai delivered a final shot to his head, authorities said.

Mai confessed to the murder and was convicted last year as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, who had charged him with dealing weapons and ordering a murder for hire while in jail awaiting trial. He is serving a 25-year sentence for the federal crimes. In return for his pleas, the prosecutors agreed to be lenient with his girlfriend, who was involved in the contract-murder plot.

Mai remained mostly quiet Friday, his hands and legs shackled over an orange jail jumpsuit.

During the penalty phase of his trial, Mai shocked the courtroom with his violent outbursts. He also threatened a prosecution witness and once had to be restrained by several deputies as he tried to topple the defense table.

On the final day of testimony in April, Mai took the witness stand and said he was prepared to pay the ultimate price.

“I believe in an eye for an eye,” he said. “There’s a price to pay for everything in life. . . . It’s part of the game.” It took the jury less than an hour to render its verdict.

On Friday, the victim’s father delivered his own message.

“As Mr. Mai said, ‘It’s part of the game.’ Then it is only appropriate that he should be ejected from the game of life,” he said.

Next week, Mai will be transferred to a maximum security federal prison in Florence, Colo., which also houses Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and the two men convicted of bombing New York’s World Trade Center in 1993.

Mai “is the most highly secured prisoner in the federal system,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Greenberg. “He was certainly a danger to society and continues to be a danger to other prisoners.”

Mai is under 24-hour surveillance and has only restricted access to reading materials and visitors. He has vowed not to appeal his death sentence in the federal courts, but the state Supreme Court must automatically review his case.

If the sentence is upheld, he will be transferred to San Quentin’s death row for execution. Authorities say it may be five to 10 years before that happens.