Blauvelt handed 40 years in Lam murder: He was the third man convicted in the 1991 killing of IPFW professor.

Byline: Jeff Wiehe

May 15--It began with the cracking of a man's skull.

Two men went to prison while another ran. "America's Most Wanted" devoted shows to finding him, a killer who disappeared without a trace. Tips came in from Texas, Colorado, Mexico, the Caribbean and even the Middle East, but he turned up years later working odd jobs in San Antonio, reviving a media hype machine that would turn its head toward him every few years as his case got older.

On Monday, Benjie Scott Blauvelt's 15-year saga ended in a four-minute hearing where hardly a word was spoken.

Allen Superior Judge John F. Surbeck accepted a plea deal that Blauvelt, 36, made with prosecutors in March and sentenced him to 40 years in prison for the 1991 murder of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne associate professor Maurice Lam.

Blauvelt was the third man convicted in the killing, apparently done to get at Lam's bank account, and he received 265 days' credit for time served in Allen County Jail. Due to Indiana's good behavior law -- one day credit for each day served with no trouble -- he could spend only half his sentence behind bars.

"I hope this gives Maurice Lam's family and friends some solace," said his lawyer, P. Stephen Miller. "I hope they realize Benjie is very sorry for what happened."

Though his family and supporters were there, nobody spoke on Blauvelt's behalf, not even Blauvelt himself.

His parents talked to him briefly before the hearing began, and flashed smiles at their son, just as they've done every time he has appeared in court. They didn't want to comment afterward.

Blauvelt used a barbell to bludgeon Lam in a Canterbury Green apartment just before Christmas 1991. He skipped a meeting with detectives shortly afterward and wasn't seen again until San Antonio Police pulled him over for an illegal turn last August.

He handed them an expired Indiana driver's license with his real name on it and told them he was wanted for murder. His running away, Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards said, is one reason she didn't believe that Blauvelt was remorseful.

"He didn't look very remorseful to me, and he made us hunt him down," she said.

She said trying a case as old as Blauvelt's would be difficult because witnesses have moved on, and some, including the coroner at the time, have died. But the evidence left was kept in incredible condition for its age.

"This is one of the finest investigations I've seen in a long time," she said.

Lam was originally from Hong Kong, where his family still lives. They did not attend any of Blauvelt's court dates in the U.S., and Richards doesn't think his parents are still alive.

She had been communicating with his sister via e-mail, who approved of the plea deal offered to Blauvelt, Richards said.

In exchange to pleading guilty to murder, Blauvelt had additional charges of felony murder, robbery and burglary dropped.

Though he admitted to wielding the barbell, he received a considerably lesser sentence than two men who helped him.

Kha Nguyen and Ko Jin Soh were both with Blauvelt at the time of the killing. They befriended Lam and lured him to the apartment where he died.

The men weighted Lam's body with concrete and dumped it into the St. Joseph River, where it washed up three months after the murder.

In the early 1990s, Soh was convicted by a jury of aiding in murder and received 51 1/2 years in prison. Richards said he received a degree while in prison, did not have a disciplinary record and recently agreed to testify against Blauvelt should he go to trial. Her office is working to suspend a large portion of his sentence and having him out within the next year. His current release date is 2015.

Nguyen pleaded guilty to murder, aiding in murder, as well as theft and burglary charges a few years after the killing and was sentenced to 70 years in prison. As part of a deal that would knock off 20 of those years, he agreed to testify against Blauvelt. He's scheduled to be released in 2029.

"Given the sentencing guidelines in place at the time of the murder, I think the deal is fair," said Richards of Blauvelt's deal.

She said that 40 years for somebody with no previous criminal background is what somebody like Blauvelt would likely have gotten when the crime was committed. According to Miller, Blauvelt apparently did not stray from his otherwise law-abiding ways in Texas and people he worked for thought he was friendly. That's what so baffled Richards about the case.

"I find it incomprehensible what prompted three college students -- guys that had advantages others didn't -- to do such a violent act for what amounted to a few thousand dollars," Richards said.

Copyright (c) 2007, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Blauvelt handed 40 years in Lam murder: He was the third man convicted in the 1991 killing of IPFW professor.

Byline: Jeff Wiehe

May 15--It began with the cracking of a man's skull.

Two men went to prison while another ran. "America's Most Wanted" devoted shows to finding him, a killer who disappeared without a trace. Tips came in from Texas, Colorado, Mexico, the Caribbean and even the Middle East, but he turned up years later working odd jobs in San Antonio, reviving a media hype machine that would turn its head toward him every few years as his case got older.

On Monday, Benjie Scott Blauvelt's 15-year saga ended in a four-minute hearing where hardly a word was spoken.

Allen Superior Judge John F. Surbeck accepted a plea deal that Blauvelt, 36, made with prosecutors in March and sentenced him to 40 years in prison for the 1991 murder of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne associate professor Maurice Lam.

Blauvelt was the third man convicted in the killing, apparently done to get at Lam's bank account, and he received 265 days' credit for time served in Allen County Jail. Due to Indiana's good behavior law -- one day credit for each day served with no trouble -- he could spend only half his sentence behind bars.

"I hope this gives Maurice Lam's family and friends some solace," said his lawyer, P. Stephen Miller. "I hope they realize Benjie is very sorry for what happened."

Though his family and supporters were there, nobody spoke on Blauvelt's behalf, not even Blauvelt himself.

His parents talked to him briefly before the hearing began, and flashed smiles at their son, just as they've done every time he has appeared in court. They didn't want to comment afterward.

Blauvelt used a barbell to bludgeon Lam in a Canterbury Green apartment just before Christmas 1991. He skipped a meeting with detectives shortly afterward and wasn't seen again until San Antonio Police pulled him over for an illegal turn last August.

He handed them an expired Indiana driver's license with his real name on it and told them he was wanted for murder. His running away, Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards said, is one reason she didn't believe that Blauvelt was remorseful.

"He didn't look very remorseful to me, and he made us hunt him down," she said.

She said trying a case as old as Blauvelt's would be difficult because witnesses have moved on, and some, including the coroner at the time, have died. But the evidence left was kept in incredible condition for its age.

"This is one of the finest investigations I've seen in a long time," she said.

Lam was originally from Hong Kong, where his family still lives. They did not attend any of Blauvelt's court dates in the U.S., and Richards doesn't think his parents are still alive.

She had been communicating with his sister via e-mail, who approved of the plea deal offered to Blauvelt, Richards said.

In exchange to pleading guilty to murder, Blauvelt had additional charges of felony murder, robbery and burglary dropped.

Though he admitted to wielding the barbell, he received a considerably lesser sentence than two men who helped him.

Kha Nguyen and Ko Jin Soh were both with Blauvelt at the time of the killing. They befriended Lam and lured him to the apartment where he died.

The men weighted Lam's body with concrete and dumped it into the St. Joseph River, where it washed up three months after the murder.

In the early 1990s, Soh was convicted by a jury of aiding in murder and received 51 1/2 years in prison. Richards said he received a degree while in prison, did not have a disciplinary record and recently agreed to testify against Blauvelt should he go to trial. Her office is working to suspend a large portion of his sentence and having him out within the next year. His current release date is 2015.

Nguyen pleaded guilty to murder, aiding in murder, as well as theft and burglary charges a few years after the killing and was sentenced to 70 years in prison. As part of a deal that would knock off 20 of those years, he agreed to testify against Blauvelt. He's scheduled to be released in 2029.

"Given the sentencing guidelines in place at the time of the murder, I think the deal is fair," said Richards of Blauvelt's deal.

She said that 40 years for somebody with no previous criminal background is what somebody like Blauvelt would likely have gotten when the crime was committed. According to Miller, Blauvelt apparently did not stray from his otherwise law-abiding ways in Texas and people he worked for thought he was friendly. That's what so baffled Richards about the case.

"I find it incomprehensible what prompted three college students -- guys that had advantages others didn't -- to do such a violent act for what amounted to a few thousand dollars," Richards said.

Copyright (c) 2007, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.