Pair acquitted over meth house killings that landed them in prison for 40 years

The murders of a meth cook and his girlfriend landed Kevin Ly and his alleged queenpin Dung Ngo a massive 40 years in prison. Now they will walk free after a court overturned their convictions on appeal.

A man and woman convicted of a meth-house double murder will walk free from prison after a court overturned their convictions and 40 year sentences for a crime that shocked Sydney.

The bodies of Thi Kim Lien Do and her meth cook boyfriend “Sonny” Thanh Nguyen were found cable tied and wrapped in sheets nine months apart in South West Sydney.

A NSW Supreme Court jury heard Dung Thi Ngo was a methamphetamine queenpin, Nguyen was her cook and Kevin Ly was among a group of men working for her drug empire.

Kevin Ly at trial in late 2018. Picture: AAP

Ms Ngo suspected Nguyen of staging a break-in to steal drugs from a Canley Vale lab, the jury were told at the trial.

Ms Do, who was not involved in the drug trade, had been at the home with her boyfriend when Mr Ly and a group of unidentified men dragged them into the lab, the jury heard.

“Don’t kill me, I don’t know anything,” Ms Do screamed at her captors from a bedroom where she sat bleeding from the head, prosecutors said in the trial.

Image taken by Google car camera at Canley Vale which led to the conviction of Dung Thi Ngo and her enforcer Kevin Ly. Photo: Google

The jury were told the assailants, armed with guns and a samurai sword, killed the pair at the home.

Ms Do’s badly decomposed body was found nine months after Mr Nguyen’s and the jury concluded they’d been murdered by Ly on Ngo’s orders.

The jury found both Ly and Ngo guilty and the judge sentenced them to 40 years in prison with a non parole period of 30 years for the “brutal and callous” slayings.

Two key witnesses from Ngo’s alleged drug empire, including her secret boyfriend, were key in giving evidence at the trial.

But on Friday the Court of Criminal Appeal found they were inconsistent witnesses.

One witness told police he had leant the samurai sword to Ly and asked if it was going to be used to “boil” or kill someone but later told the court he forgot who he had given the sword to.

The court concluded the jury should have had a reasonable doubt about the guilt of Ly and Ngo.

Dung Thi Ngo arrives at court. Picture: AAP

“None of the independent evidence placed Nguyen or Do at the alleged place the murders occurred on 10 April 2013 or placed Ly at that location on that day,” Justice Robert Beech-Jones said.

“That evidence did not demonstrate that Ngo was in a position to direct anyone to harm anyone else.”

Ly and Ngo were arrested in September 2016 and have remained in prison ever since.

But on Friday they were acquitted by the court and will walk free.