Tung Kuei-sen (1951 - 3 April 1991) was a member of the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

-based United Bamboo Gang. Along with

Chen Chi-li Chen Chi-li (11 May 1943 – 4 October 2007), nicknamed King Duck or Dry Duck, was a gangster from Taiwan, best known for heading the United Bamboo Gang. His murder of dissident journalist Henry Liu in Daly City, California, United States, in 1 ...

and Wu Tun, he is best known for his murder of dissident journalist

Henry Liu Henry Liu (; 7 December 1932 – 15 October 1984), often known by his pen name Chiang Nan (), was a Taiwanese-American writer and journalist. He was a vocal critic of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), then the single ruling party of th ...

in Daly City,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in October 1984.

Murder of Henry Liu

Chen and Wu had initially planned to murder Liu on their own by intercepting him at Fisherman's Wharf; after finding the area to be too crowded, they decided instead to attempt to attack him in his home, and enlisted Tung's help. After murdering Liu, Tung flew back to Taiwan with Chen and Wu, but was forced to flee to Manila a few weeks later during Operation Cleansweep a nationwide anti-gang raid. He fled Manila after being questioned by authorities there during an investigation of the contract murders of two

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos; tl, Tsinoy, / Tsinong Pilipino, ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Philippine Hokkien , Mandarin Chinese in the Philippines, Mandarin (also known as Filipino Chinese in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent, mo ...

families, going to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and then

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he was apprehended and in April 1986 extradited to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Trial

Tung first stood trial in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

on Federal racketeering charges relating to a United Bamboo conspiracy to smuggle 660 pounds of heroin into the United States; however, he was acquitted of similar racketeering charges relating to Liu's murder due to his testimony that he shot Liu on orders from the Taiwan government, and not as part of a gang-related activity. As Brazil's extradition treaty with the United States specified that they would not extradite fugitives charged with crimes that could result in their execution, the prosecutor did not seek the death penalty. After the first trial, he was extradited from New York to California to stand trial for Liu's murder. Like Chen, Tung stated that he had killed Liu for patriotic reasons. He was found guilty by a jury on 17 March 1988 after just 45 minutes of deliberations.

Sentencing and imprisonment

Tung's sentence of 25 years to life for the murder and two years for the use of a firearm was passed on 12 May; the judge rejected a plea that his sentences be allowed to run concurrently, which could have seen him set free in just six years. According to prosecutors, he would not have been eligible for parole for 17 years and 8 months. He was then sent to Pennsylvania to serve out his term for the drug charges. On 21 February 1991, he was attacked and stabbed by fellow prisoners at the

Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary The United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg (USP Lewisburg) is a medium-security United States federal prison in Pennsylvania for male inmates. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ...

in Lewisburg; after a long struggle to recover from his wounds, he died on 3 April.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tung, Kuei-Sen 1951 births 1991 deaths 1980s murders in Taiwan 1984 crimes in Taiwan 1984 murders in Asia 1991 murders in the United States Triad members Bamboo Union Murdered gangsters Prisoners murdered in custody Taiwanese people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of California Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention Taiwanese people who died in prison custody People murdered in Pennsylvania Taiwanese people convicted of murder Deaths by stabbing in the United States Place of birth missing People from Taichung People extradited from Brazil People extradited to the United States