SALT LAKE CITY — After a more than decade-long wait, the man who killed three people in Salt Lake City in 2015 has been sentenced for the triple-murder.
Alexander Hung Tran was sentenced on Friday to three life sentences without the possibility of parole in the murders of 50-year-old Heike Poike, her 2-month-old granddaughter Lyrik Poike, and 28-year-old Dakota Smith, who were found dead inside a house in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City.
Attorneys said that Smith was a friend of the Poike family.
Poike was renting the upstairs portion of the residence from Tran, who lived in the basement and described the home as his mom's house.
Prosecutors said Smith, a family friend, went to the house to check on things after Poike didn't pick up her 8-year-old grandson from school. Smith saw strange things when she went to the house, noticed the car trunk open, then went to the back door, which was open.
When police arrived, they found all three victims dead in the living room, with Poike and her granddaughter under a tarp, and Dakota Smith was deceased on the couch.
All three victims had suffered gunshot wounds, and police found 11 casings from a .22-caliber gun upstairs.
Tran was found in the basement and was cooperative with police, who testified that he said, "If I think this is my mom's fault and that she should be here instead, is there anything I can do?"
Police said Tran told them his mom was upset about bills being run up by the tenants, and that he had to obey her and do her right.
During the trial, prosecutors shared how Poike's daughter stated that she and her two children had been allowed to move in with Tran, who then became obsessed with Poike's daughter, sending her text messages and professing his desire to marry her.
The behavior escalated when the daughter was jailed, and Tran's mother, who owned the home, objected to the children living there.
“We applaud the judge’s decision that ensures the defendant will spend the rest of his life behind bars. We hope that the victim's family feels that they have received some measure of justice for the loss of their mother, child, and friend. The three life sentences reflect the level of accountability our community demands when an abhorrent crime like this one is committed in Salt Lake County, “said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
