Killer's Crimes and
the Liberal Media's Crimes

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The following articles are about the home-invasion of a family during the Christmas holidays and murder of the husband. The articles will be dissected to illustrate the techniques the leftist, criminal coddling media uses. Text that is enlarged or emphasized will be dealt with and text that is plain will not.

The techniques used in these recent articles illustrate "MORAL EQUIVALENCY" to try to make the criminal seem equal in status to the victim. You will see the DIMINISHMENT OF THE CRIME used to make it seem as trivial as a postman delivering a letter to the wrong address. You will see a HUGE DISTORTION OF THE PRINT SPACE giving the CRIMINAL FAR MORE PRINT SPACE THAN THE VICTIM. You will note that practically nothing is said about the wonderful Doctor who was murdered. Only that he "had it coming" because he "flaunted his wealth" and lived in an "elegant upscale home". However, LOTS OF PRINT SPACE IS USED TO MAKE THE MURDERER SEEM LIKE A HARD WORKING, LOVING FAMILY MAN WHO WAS "DOWN ON HIS LUCK" AND TRYING TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY. Nothing was said about the Doctor's family and Christmas. This however was emphasized in the articles about the criminals. Relatively little space was used describing the crimes. The lady who was nearly murdered along with her 6-month old baby was described anonymously as "a woman." Not someone you may know. When the Dr. and the criminal are described as having died they are given the same amount of text and the Dr.'s death is described as "Wounded", not murdered. You will see that the article describes the crime as botched and that the "family confronted the criminal" not that the criminal confronted the family.

In my opinion, the authors and publishers of these articles are attempting to manipulate society's values by trying to show that criminals may just be doing a job, bungling it somehow, and when people get in the way and get hurt it's the victim's fault. And besides that the criminals were just family men home for the holidays.

San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, January 7, 2000
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle

By Michael Cabanatuan, Henry K. Lee, Jaxon Van Derbeken, Erin Hallissy, Chronicle Staff Writers

A Stockton gangster shot dead in a botched home-invasion robbery apparently targeted his victims after making a furniture delivery at their upscale Alamo house two months ago, The Chronicle has learned. Here the term botched means a mistake that is followed with the mitigating phrase about the furniture delivery and then upscale house. It's as though these guys made an honest mistake and were just working in a nice neighborhood. This is designed to diminish the impact that cold blooded murderers were on a mission to kill innocent people, possibly torture and mutilate the family members, rape the 13 year old daughter and perhaps the mother in front of her bound and gagged husband before they kill them using duct tape to suffocate them. Think I'm joking? I've read all of these sickening things in articles regarding home-invasion. And the authors take the liberty of lying about the motives of the murderers. They call it a robbery. It was not a robbery at all from the start. When Mrs. Fang opened the door the "robbers" immediately opened fire and shot her in the chest. So in point of fact, the authors of this article lied to you in the first paragraph!

Investigators are culling the addresses of other customers of the furniture auction house that employed Mesa Kasem to see whether the 22-year-old ex-convict had plotted other robberies before Tuesday's bloody shootout. During that deadly confrontation, both Kasem and his victim, Dr. Kim Fang, a retired plastic surgeon and an accomplished marksman, were mortally wounded. Here your authors are again using the technique of diminishing the importance of the mission of the two murderers. "To see whether" they were plotting other robberies. Later in the articles you'll see that they already had committed other attrocities by holding up a mother and threatening to shoot her baby! This purposeful distortion by the authors to make the murderers seem like they just botched a job tells me that the authors sympathize with the criminals and turn the victims into non-human objects that got in the way. They make sure to include in this same sentence that Dr. Fang was a gun owner and that he was "wounded". This first of all shows the anti-self defense attitude of the authors. They also have an overt bias against guns: they don't qualify the same statement regarding the murderers. As a matter of fact they don't say anything directed towards the murderers as being "marksmen" with guns.

Kasem-a convicted felon recently freed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service after the agency was unable to deport him to his native Cambodia-worked in a warehouse of Somerset Auctions, a Santa Clara company that auctions furnishings throughout Northern California. Here the authors blame an agency for contributing to the crime. The authors imply that these guys who "worked in a warehouse" that deals in furnishings throughout Northern California somehow had anything to do with the company's success.

Jim Murphy, the warehouse manager for Somerset, said Kasem first entered the Fang home to exchange a piece of furniture that Fang had purchased at a November 7 auction in Walnut Creek. Here again the authors say the murderer first just went to the home to exchange furniture.

"We think that Mesa would have come in contact with (Fang) while making an exchange," Murphy said yesterday. Like they exchanged business cards.

Police searched Kasem's Stockton home Wednesday night looking for "any notation or list which appears to contain names and addresses of customers of Somerset Auction that Mesa Kasem has collected as possible targets," according to the search warrant.

Police believe that the home robbery went awry when Kasem and his alleged accomplice, Soknoeum Nem, 21, were confronted by the family, which fought the armed intruders with a frying pan and a gun. Here the authors diminish it with the lie about "robbery" and use the word "awry" just as if you'd made a paperwork error. Then the authors turn the whole thing on its' head by saying that the family confronted the murderers! The lady opens the door and "BANG!" she's shot in the chest and she's the one at fault according to the authors for "confronting" the assholes! God how I wish those murderers had simply went awry and did what they did to the honorable family and instead went to the homes where the authors lived. Try this, plug the author's names into any spot you see "Fang".

Killed in the shootout were Kasem and Kim Fang, 49. Fang's wife, Winnie, and the nanny, Melee Jung, were injured, as was the second suspect, Nem. The Fangs' two children, ages 10 and 13, escaped without injury and ran to neighbors who called police. The authors here try to use implied equivalence by listing Kasem and eliminating the Dr. before naming Dr. Kim Fang. They make sure to include the "escaped without injury" as if the robbers let them go out of mercy. Much of this technique is designed to put the murderers on a pedestal and keep the honored doctor from being compared "mano a mano" with the murderer.

Yesterday, Winnie Fang, a 45 year old anesthesiologist with Kaiser Permanente in Vallejo, was released from Stanford Medical Center and was reunited with her two children at an undisclosed location.

Nem was listed in fair condition at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley and is expected to be charged with murder and robbery. He is under arrest in his hospital room.

Police said investigators found a handwritten note with Fang's name and address inside a blue Mazda rental car that Kasem and Nem had driven to Alamo.

Authorities scrambled yesterday to explain why Kasem and Nem were free despite being convicted felons who, as immigrants, would normally be deported under federal law.

Last year, officials said, the men were released from an Immigration and Naturalization Service detention center rather than deported because they both are from Cambodia, a nation that does not accept U.S. deportees. The men were released from detention after immigration officials deemed them rehabilitated and no longer a threat to society. The authors here call them "the men" and use "released" right after as if they were innocent. They are minorities which for leftist sympathizing authors means a "protected class". Again, they blame the INS for being somehow an accomplice in the problem.

"We have tried to strike a balance to ensure we don't hold people indefinitely, as long as they don't pose a risk," said Virginia Kice, spokeswomen for the immigration service's western region. "When you are dealing with people, it's an inexact science-it is impossible to predict what an individual will or won't do." The authors here use out of context statements by "authorities" to say that they considered the murderers not posing a risk and that it was a "balanced" consideration of the murderer's characters. The authors also seek to switch the blame again to the INS spokeswoman.

Kasem started work for Somerset in late August, the same month the immigration service released him from a detention center in Los Angeles County. The immigration service had detained Kasem for three years after he had served a jail sentence for shooting a woman. The authors here emphasize that he got right back to work after he was released. The woman's name is omitted here. She is just a thing to the authors while the murderers are "men". In other words the authors are trying to establish a level between the victim, the anonymous woman, and the murderer.

According to San Joaquin County court records, Kasem's conviction stemmed from an incident on Oct. 12, 1994, in which he shot and seriously wounded a woman in Stockton and fired shots into a home. In 1995, the shooting charge was dropped, and Kasem pleaded no contest (which is in effect the same as a guilty plea) to firing into an occupied dwelling. He served one year of a three year sentence in the California Youth Authority. Again, the woman and the house are given the same value by the authors. The murderer shoots a house, an occupied dwelling and they emphasize that the shooting charge regarding the woman was dropped! In other words the lawyers here agreed that the "woman" was not worth pursuing! The authors use this here to show that shooting the woman was no big deal because the prosecutors only were concerned with property damage and the potential harm of shooting a building with people in it. It doesn't say that the woman for the rest of her life may have lost the use of a limb, may be in terrible chronic pain, or may be unable to be employed. It only says that the murderers shot her and that the charge was dropped because someone thought shooting a building was more important.

"He had served his sentence, paid his debt to society," Kice said. "Obviously, some people are going to say, 'Why did they let this guy out?' This is a case where we had not only an exhaustive interview, but we felt that this individual was a good candidate for release." Here the authors want again to establish the fine credentials of the murderers. The authors equate "serving a sentence" with "paying his debt". Ask the woman he shot the first time and then ask the destroyed family that he shot most recently. Then the authors quote the INS spokeswoman saying they "exhaustively interviewed" and then considered him "a good candidate" as if he was running for office. The authors so far have given us in practical terms almost nothing negative about this murderer's criminal history. They have done absolutely nothing to show that they have any feelings whatsoever for the shooting victims. As far as I can tell the authors are unfeeling sociopaths doing everything possible to give a one sided presentation of the crime and ignore the horror experienced by the late Dr. Fang and his living family. When, pray tell, will they talk about the screams of the children running to their neighbors home unsure if anyone of their family would be left alive? Will the authors describe the wife who is an anethesiologist in a hospital in sympathetic terms? How about how she'll have to raise the children who almost were orphaned when their mother was shot and then their father died? The authors of this article ARE TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE TO THEIR READERS!

Immigration officials confirmed that Kasem was held at the same detention center as Nem. Both were members of a Stockton gang, the Asian Street Walkers. Don't forget that I highlighted this. In the newspaper article it looked just the same as the rest of the text allowing it to be less visible to the lay, non-critical reader.

Somerset auction house officials did not ask Kasem whether he had a criminal record, Murphy said, and were unaware of his background.

Murphy said Kasem was a little more outgoing than the other warehouse employees but displayed no propensity for violence-"certainly not what transpired at that house." The authors again add more to the murderers "good guy" image. Outgoing means fun, likable and besides, the authors include; he had "no propensity for violence." The authors knew all about his "propensity for violence." If these authors had an IQ as big as their shoe size they would have gone to Stockton and gathered evidence about the crimes committed by the Asian Street Walker gang and printed those too!

His warehouse job involved loading and unloading furnishings from trucks and making occasional deliveries. Asked if Kasem was a good worker, Murphy said, "I would say he was a satisfactory employee. He wasn't here that long, so we didn't get to know him that well." Here it sounds to me like the authors spend a lot more time developing a work resumé for Kasem than calling him a cold blooded murderer. They phrase the question to Murphy as "was he a good worker?," instead of asking "do you think he ripped off very much merchandise?" But they emphasized Murphy's answer that Kasem "was a satisfactory employee". Golly, do you think he'd rehire him too?

He quit December 17 without giving a reason.

Kasem's sister, Prany Kasem, said her brother had been living with an uncle in the San Jose area. He moved into her house in Stockton a couple of weeks ago to be with family over the holidays, she said. Gee, the authors have made this sound like a scene right out of Norman Rockwell's paintings to manipulate your emotions. Kasem murdered Dr. Fang around Christmas but that isn't mentioned here. Just that the murderer is in a family home, exchanging presents, worshipping Jesus....WHOOPS! These folks are Buddist! What do you think the authors meant in telling you these things?

She and other relatives said they were shocked that Kasem had been involved in such a violent crime. Notice here the authors again phrase it as though Kasem had never committed another crime in his life.

"My brother is a good person; he has a good heart. He wanted to start his life all over again" after being incarcerated for five years, Prany Kasem said. The authors again totally obscuring the truth by relying on family emotional, traumatically induced, fabrication. The authors could have found many other victims of Kasem's hatred but instead they want to obscure his history of many years of destroying innocent people's lives.

Kasem's brother, Veasna Kasem of Stockton, said Mesa Kasem was worried because he was dating a 17 year old girl and was afraid the immigration service would arrest him at his job and deport him. Yes, of course he's worried about being deported. Having sex with a 17 year old minor is a felony called "Statutory Rape". The reason he was worried was because he knew it was illegal and was doing it anyway. But the authors want to lull you into thinking it was like a scene from "South Pacific" where the beautiful young lovers sing to each other in the forest before parting trothing their love forever though separated.

"He got scared. He quit his work because he thought they would go after him at work," the brother said. Of course, fleeing from justice. He was an illegal alien breaking U.S. laws.

The Kasem family said they did not know Nem, but the Nem family knew Mesa Kasem and said they did not like him.

Nem's relatives have said they, also, were stunned by the violence. Nem's folks are used by the authors to add to the fabrication that they were surprised by the violence. Why should they be? In the very next sentence it makes it clear that Nem, too, spent time in jail for entering people's homes and committing auto theft. The authors of course don't mention that burglars are felons of opportunity. It's quite possible that Nem may have committed other crimes along the way that were not prosecuted. Attacking and raping women during a burglary is very common and often not reported. So are murders.

Nem has burglary and auto theft record and was paroled from state prison in 1998. He subsequently was detained by the immigration service and was released last July. Always point out that he was released every time you can fit it in to keep the reader's mind focused on the idea that "really he didn't belong in jail."

Contra Costa sheriff's officials said they will discuss the connection between the suspects and Fang at a news briefing today. The authors here emphasize the use of the authorities as they "discuss" the connection. Notice here the authors phrase it so the murderers are given the same level of respect as the Dr. In fact, notice the authors didn't even use the title Dr. before Dr. Fang's name. It's interesting that they don't use the murderers names but the authors do use Dr. Fang's. It is a huge sign of disrespect for the survivors to see their husband, brother, and father called Fang by the authors. It falls just short of slandering the Dr. and his family. I wish the survivors would sue the authors of articles like these for slander. Dr. Fang was not a public figure and therefore was not a subject for public mud slinging.

San Jose Mercury News
Friday, January 7, 2000.

By Daniel Vasquez, Gil José Durán and Dana Hull, Mercury News Staff Writers
© 2000 Mercury Center

Family shares sorrow

Alamo home invasion: Shocked relatives of gunman who died say he told them he was trying to change his life. Here, on the header just below the title of the article the authors immediately tell you that the murderer wasn't really a bad guy because he "said" that he was "trying to change his life." The authors set the sympathetic tone for the diminishment of the crime right at the outset.

As investigators continued Thursday to piece together events leading up to a botched home-invasion robbery in Alamo that left two people dead, the injured wife of the homeowner fatally shot in the attack was released from Stanford University Hospital. The authors again in this article make the assumption that the two murderers are interested in robbery. It's quite possible they were interested in rape, torture, murder, arson, and a variety of mayhem. But robbery is the least serious crime and is constantly emphasized by the sick authors of this article. They then insult the family by equating the murderer shot dead by Dr. Fang with Dr. Fang by just calling them both "two people dead". In the same sentence they also attempt to qualify that it wasn't quite so serious because she was only injured. They then purposely make the weird statement that the wife was somehow not a homeowner. The author's fear connecting the injured wife with the murdered Dr. Fang and anonymously refer to them both. This is a spectacular example of pathologic obscuring of the facts by the authors.

WHAT DO THE AUTHORS FEAR BY SIMPLY STATING THE FACTS?
Who, what, where, when, why and how..........period!

In Stockton, the family of the gunman who died in Tuesday's melee grieved over his death but expressed even more sorrow for the death of the man their brother allegedly was trying to rob. The authors so far in this article have failed to name Dr. Fang once. Yet they have made several references that diminish the crime and give support to the uncritical reader's mind that it was just a "botched robbery." In this paragraph they start it off with "the family of the gunman". First of all that is factually a lie. Both of the murderers carried stolen guns. The two murderers have not gone to trial yet so the authors jumping to conclusions that they were only "trying to rob" is another lie. They then call it a "melee". Dr. Fang's wife opened the door and she was shot in the chest by Kasem the murderer. If one of the authors of this article experienced the same thing do you think they would call it a "melee" or "an attempted assassination"?

More details about the suspects-Nem Soknoeum and Mesa Kasem-emerged from their hometown where the daily newspaper there, the Stockton Record, said in today's edition that the semiautomatic handgun used in the home invasion was reported stolen a day earlier in Stockton. The authors here reveal their anti-self defense bias by trying to qualify the gun as "semiautomatic". Frankly, the authors of these liberal establishment newspapers wouldn't know which end of a gun a bullet comes out of. Nowhere that I've looked has the gun's manufacturer and model been specified. So how do the authors know it's a semiautomatic? In addition they say here that it was used in a "home invasion" and was "reported stolen". The authors make all sorts of assumptions about the crime but can't make the connection that the murderers stole the gun.

Stockton resident Kim Chau told the Record that she believes Kasem, 22, who was killed in shootout at the Alamo home, is the same man who entered her home Monday and robbed her at gunpoint, while threatening to kill her 6 month old baby. A gun was taken during that break-in. Finally the authors have the nerve to name a crime that Kasem has previously committed. But they preface it by saying "who was killed in a shootout" as if we should feel sympathy for the murderer. And in addition, the authors prefer to use the word "taken" instead of stolen. Do they think that this is the same as taking pens home from work? Is that what they are trying to implant in the reader's mind?

After looking at a picture of Kasem that was taken last month, she reportedly said, "I'm cold. I can't stop shaking all over."

Chau also said she recognized Soknoeum, 21, as a patient at the dental office where she works. Again the authors sieze on the victim's statement that he is just like you getting his teeth worked on. Just a patient.

Five months ago, Soknoeum and Kasem were housed in separate Immigration and Naturalization Service holding facilities, punishment for their involvement in petty crimes. Just what do the authors think are "petty crimes"? How do they know what "petty crimes" these two have committed? Do the authors understand that it's quite possible that these guys may have committed any of the unsolved murders, rapes, and arson that has occurred in their treasured city? THERE IS NOT A SINGLE CRIMINAL IN JAIL WHO WAS CAUGHT THE ONLY TIME THEY COMMITTED A CRIME. THESE PEOPLE HURT OTHER PEOPLE FOR A LIVING THE WAY THE REST OF US GO TO WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!!!

Last month, Soknoeum, and Kasem, both Cambodian immigrants, were living again with their families in Stockton. But according to police, their time behind bars had little impact: By then they were running with the same street gang.

How they ended up at the front door of Kim Fang, a retired 48 year old dentist who shared an elegant, upscale home with his wife and two children, is a puzzle Contra Costa County homicide detectives continued to work Thursday, two days after the violent confrontation that left Fang and Kasem dead, and Winnie Fang and Soknoeum wounded. The authors are now about halfway through their article and finally attempt to get specific. But here they try to gain sympathy for the murderers by comparing their immigrant status with the dentist in an elegant upscale home. The authors must have rocks in their heads the way they phrased the relationship of Dr. Fang and his family. The authors contend that he only shared his home with his wife and children. Is that the way the authors would talk about their own wife and children? The authors again diminish the Dr. and his anesthesiologist wife by not only linking them with "and" and implying that they shared the same injuries as the murderers. Let's just play the "switch the name" game. How about Vasques and Kasem or Duran and Kasem? The authors have such a high opinion of themselves that this linking of their names with the murderers would likely seem an insult.

The ordeal began Tuesday evening when Fang's wife answered a knock at the door. Police say Kim Fang opened fire with a licensed handgun after he heard shots in his foyer and sounds of his wife and brother in law struggling with strangers. Kim Fang was hit in the chest during the gunfight and died at a local hospital later that night. Here the authors use the word "hit" instead of shot. It's a small but noticable misidentification.

Relatives who helped care for the couple's 13 year old son and 10 year old daughter, both of whom were home but not injured during the robbery, declined to speak to reporters Thursday. The authors add this as though the murderers should be commended for "letting them go" instead of mentioning the terror they felt escaping out a back door to the neighbors.

But relatives of one of the suspects openly shared shock and anger, saying they believed him when he claimed he was mending his bad ways.

Outside the family home in north Stockton, Mesa Kasem's two sisters clutched pictures they took of their brother during his first Christmas at home in six years, and expressed shock at his death. The authors again go back to trying to build up the image of the murderers by using the family, Christmas, and "expressed shock at his death" in a way that makes it seem as if the murderers were somehow revered, valued citizens. However, on the other hand, the author's use of class warfare imagery to describe the "retired 48 year old Dentist in the upscale elegant home" is designed to diminish Dr. Fang and his family to "idle rich" status who wouldn't miss things taken by Kasem and Nem and got in the way of the "robbers". The authors probably would try to say it was the family's fault that the job was botched if they thought they could get away with it.

Since Kasem's release from INS custody three months ago, they said, their brother had worked hard to prove to his family that he was determined to make a new start. Here they go again with the repeating over and over that he was making a new start. Is there any mention about the Dr. trying to make a new start? Is there a single shred of a paragraph telling me anything about anything except these GOD DAMN MURDERERS AND THEIR STUPID FAMILY'S STATEMENTS? JUST WHO DO THE AUTHORS FEEL SYMPATHY FOR ANYWAY?

"He was trying to get better, but now we've lost him," said Prany Kasem, the eldest sister in a family of two girls and four boys. "He told us he wanted to become a productive citizen and contribute to society, but now he's gone, and so is an innocent man's life. My family feels very bad, but we feel more sorry for the doctor's family. My brother took him away from his children and his wife." The authors are doing it again. Over and over and over the stupid liberal left wing criminal loving authors use the same sop about how the murderer was "trying" and "productive" and "contribute" and "innocent". Remember, when you read the newspaper story there were no highlighted and bold emphasized words in the text. It was all the same size so the huge amount of BULLSHIT that the authors pass off as a story all looks the same. Nothing stands out except how "wonderful" the murderer was.

After a moment, Prany Kasem added: "We want to apologize. This is not how it should be."

According to court records, Nem Soknoem, who remained under guard in a hospital jail ward Thursday, was committed to the California Youth Authority in 1994 for burglary.

While on parole in 1996 he committed another burglary in San Joaquin County and eventually was sent to the state's Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster.

In July 1998, Soknoeum was sent to an INS holding facility until his release in July 1999, when he was paroled to Stockton to live with his family. Parole officers regularly visited him, the last time in December.

Mesa Kasem came to the United States as a 2 year old refugee with his family and became a lawful permanent resident, but not a citizen.

At the age of 17, Kasem was convicted of shooting into an inhabited building and served a three year sentence with the California Youth Authority. He was paroled to the INS and held at a jail in Bakersfield, until his release in August "under order of supervision."

"According to his file, he was a model prisoner," said Sharon Rummery, spokeswoman for the INS San Francisco District Office.

"There are letters of praise from people in the jail system on how he turned his life around."

These last 8 paragraphs repeat things that have already been repeated so much that it makes me want to vomit on the authors of these two articles. They defend the murderer and use class warfare and all their tricks to defame and diminish the victims.

There was not a single reference from the grieving patients the Dr. and his wife helped. Not a single co-worker of the professionals were interviewed for comment. Not a single reference about how the children will fare without their father and horribly traumatized mother and uncle.

The San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle should fire these incompetent authors. They are too stupid for words! All the information about the previous crimes and also the personal stories of the family are easy to obtain. It's obvious they only care about the criminal. I wish like hell that the authors would have to take into their homes and live with murderers like these. I work in jails some of the time and I know the truth. I wish the authors did.

The authors of articles like this get me sick! This demonstrates why I no longer subscribe to or read their rags.

San Jose Mercury News
Friday, January 7, 2000

By Bill Romano
Mercury News Staff Writer
© 2000 Mercury Center

This is a measured article that gives some valid advice offered by police officers. I included this article because it is in stark contrast to the propaganda articles above. This article simply offers the who, what, when, where, and why of the subject of the article.

One late night last January, a resident answered a knock at the door of a home on San Bruno Avenue in Morgan Hill. A "deliveryman" on the porch announced he had flowers for someone inside.

Once the door was opened a crack, five masked men with pistols, walkie-talkies and rifles burst inside and quickly took over-binding their victims with duct tape and looting the house of cash and valuables.

The delivery ruse is a favorite of robbery gangs that have plagued households-largely Asian-American-in the Bay Area for years.

Unlike Tuesday night's invasion of a home in Alamo in which a prominent dental surgeon died trying to defend his family from intruders with his own registered handgun, no one was injured in the Morgan Hill holdup, said Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. John Hirokawa.

But both cases should remind all potential victims of the need for constant vigilance.

Generally, police caution against trying to take on intruders, even with a weapon.

San Jose police robbery detective Khanh Nguyen, a former member of the department's gang task force, said few victims have been killed during home-invasion robberies, especially when there is no resistance.

"When you try to resist," said Nguyen, "you don't know what can happen. That's a factor beyond your control."

And using a gun is a decision only the homeowner can make, and it depends entirely on the situation.

"It's a difficult call because you never know how far they (violent intruders) will go," Hirokawa said. "But if you feel you must defend yourself in this way, you need to be trained and have your family educated on the danger (of firearms) and requirements for safety." Most gun accidents occur in homes where people are ignorant of how to properly handle firearms, he added.

The majority of home invasions, police say, are not random strikes, but well-planned assaults based on information gathered beforehand about the victims-their habits, lifestyles, nature of their business, the cars they drive. Crooks always are on the lookout for anyone appearing to have access to lots of cash or valuable property, Nguyen said.

For that reason, police recommend people be wary in public and not to attract attention to themselves. Gee, so we should all dress like we work in warehouses and forget about expensive clothes to look nice for our families. Dr. Fang dressed well and enjoyed wearing gold necklaces and such. He rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He had a nice home in a good neighborhood.

So why was Dr. Fang supposed to be wary? What has changed that honest people can't do what they enjoy doing? The reason is simple: there is no reason NOT to commit crimes because we do not punish criminals anymore in this country like we did 200 years ago.

"You have to be careful about information you give out regarding your own personal wealth," Nguyen said. A typical victim might be the man or woman who has just picked up a bundle at the gambling table, flashes the money in front of the wrong person then drives home alone with the stranger following closely.

While home-invasion robberies aren't as frequent as they were in the mid-1990's, police offer suggestions for homeowners to reduce the risk: Don't keep large amounts of cash in the house, and don't carry or display large sums in public.

Expensive jewelry should be kept in a safe that can not be readily carried away. Better yet, store it in a safe-deposit box at a bank.

Do not open door to strangers-especially after dark-unless they can identify themselves, through the door, to your satisfaction.

Install case-hardened dead-bolt locks on all exterior doors, as well as connecting garage doors.

If possible, install an alarm system, with automatic outdoor motion-detection lights.

In the event a suspicious car trails you, contact police on a cell phone or drive to the nearest populated area and call from there with the vehicle's description and as much more detail as possible.

Take care not to divulge personal information, especially financial information, to strangers.

Join with others to set up a Neighborhood Watch Program.

Be alert to vehicles on the street that ordinarily are not there, to the occupant who appears suspicious. Call police to check out suspect cars.