Mysterious death of Dandenong drug dealer Dung Tri Pham may never be solved, Coroner says

Eight years after the body of a big time Dandenong drug dealer known as “The Phantom” was found in a burnt-out Holden, a coroner says the case may never be solved.

Dung Tri Pham’s body was discovered in his burnt out car in Melbourne’s southeast. Picture: Hamish Blair

The gruesome suspected murder of big time Dandenong drug dealer “The Phantom” may never be solved after a Coroner, eight years on, ruled police had exhausted all avenues.

Dung Tri Pham’s body was discovered in the back of his burnt-out red Holden commodore just before midnight in Olive Road Reserve in Eumemmerring, near Doveton, on March 26, 2015.

A large knife was jammed into the side of his neck.

In the Coroner’s Court of Victoria on Wednesday, his heartbroken sister, who tuned into the inquest via video link, was told despite “thorough” investigations by police and evidence from 35 witnesses, the circumstances around her brother’s death remained unknown.

Police on the scene where Mr Pham’s body was found. Picture: Hamish Blair

The court heard Mr Pham, 40, had spent the day at Crown casino before driving back to his home in Eumemmerring where he lived alone.

Phone records show he had been texting customers to set up deals, as well as his drug runner, who later recalled to police a conversation with his boss earlier that day.

‘I’ve f — ked up, I’ve got to do something and then I’ll come and see ya,” Mr Pham had allegedly told him.

The pair planned to meet later that night to “count their daily earnings” but Mr Pham stopped responding, the court heard.

At about 11:30pm that night, CCTV captured an unknown vehicle enter the Reserve “at speed” before driving away just minutes before firefighters, responding to calls from neighbours, made the grim discovery.

A forensic pathologist found Mr Pham had been fatally stabbed in the neck after “considerable blood” was found in his stomach.

Dung Tri Pham was also known as ‘The Phantom’.

The court heard Mr Pham’s drug trafficking business was turning over “between $40,000 and $60,000 per week” when he was killed during what police believe to have been a drug deal gone wrong.

Police, however, have never found any evidence of “a falling out, any bad debts or trouble with a competitor”.

Coroner John Cain on Wednesday said despite the “unknown” circumstances surrounding Mr Pham’s death, he was satisfied police had undertaken a “thorough and extensive investigation”.

“I am satisfied that no investigation which I am empowered to undertake, would be likely to result in the identification of the person or persons who caused Mr Pham’s death,” he added.

Mr Pham, who immigrated to Australia from Vietnam with his family in 1983, was known to police at the time of his death in relation to his drug involvement.

He is survived by his parents, two brothers and three sisters, one of whom described him as a “loyal and kind hearted person”.