Arop Daljang, the 41-year-old Sudanese immigrant whose body was found in Branched Oak Lake in March, died of blunt force trauma and drowning, according to a coroner's finding.
CLARENCE MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 7:00 pm
Arop Daljang, the 41-year-old Sudanese immigrant whose body was found in Branched Oak Lake in March, died of blunt force trauma and drowning, according to a coroner’s finding.
The finding was included in search warrant papers filed last week in Lancaster County District Court. The papers also disclosed that Daljang had been bound with duct tape and hog-tied.
Daljang’s widow said Tuesday that he was buried at Cheney Cemetery in a ceremony last month.
Sbir Acieng of Denver and Daljang had four children together, now between the ages of 4 and 14. Acieng said she is raising a fifth child.
“Every day, they cry for their father,” she said. “This was a very mean thing.”
Acieng said Daljang and the man accused in his death were friends.
Lancaster County prosecutors earlier this month charged Venh Lam, 40, 500 N. 23rd St., with first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in the death. Lam’s wife, Hue T. Thach, 38, was charged with accessory to murder.
Both were being held in Lancaster County Jail.
Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner declined to say Tuesday if he anticipated additional arrests in the investigation, which he said was ongoing. He also declined to elaborate on the cause of Daljang’s death.
Investigators have not publicly discussed a possible motive for the homicide.
Daljang and Lam worked at GT Exhaust Systems in Air Park. Acieng said Tuesday that a cousin of Daljang was with Daljang and Lam at Daljang’s apartment a few days before the homicide.
She said the cousin told her after the homicide he saw Daljang loan Lam $400 to make a car insurance payment.
Daljang’s body was discovered in the lake shortly before 7 p.m. March 21 by a man looking for fishing lures along the shoreline.
Lancaster County Sheriff’s investigators suspect Daljang was assaulted at Lam’s residence the day before. The couple allegedly used a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old to help get rid of the body, according to court papers.
According to the search warrant papers filed last week, Lam and a family member carried a large garbage can with a protruding yellow blanket and black garbage bag to Lam’s 1994 Toyota Camry and put the can in the trunk.
Lam told his wife and another family member that the can contained a dog, according to the papers.
Once at Branched Oak, Lam and a family friend carried the can to the lake, according to the papers.
According to earlier court papers, Lam told an investigator April 4 he did not have an association with Daljang outside of work, and he denied ever being in Daljang’s apartment, having drinks with him or loaning him money.
Interviewed again April 10, Lam admitted to being in the apartment the week before the homicide, sharing drinks with Daljang and loaning him money, according to court papers.
Lam left Lincoln the day of the second interview, and at the time he was believed to be attempting to leave the United States. He apparently drove to Mexico in the Camry and, from there, to Washington state.
He was arrested in Seattle on April 13. Investigators returned to Lincoln with the Camry in an enclosed trailer May 7.
Authorities obtained search warrants for the car and for the North 23rd Street residence. They seized numerous items, including an aluminum baseball bat, a notice of cancellation of insurance for a 1989 Acura Legend and pieces of duct tape.
Acieng described Daljang as a likeable, hard-working man.
“Mr. Daljang was a good man,” she said. “I don’t know why (he was) killed.”
Reach Clarence Mabin at 473-7234 or cmabin@journalstar.com .