Defense attorney says Lake Elmo murder over for-sale car was an accident

Dao Xiong wanted Youa Ty Lor's customized sports car, and he plotted Lor's murder to get it, a prosecutor told a Washington County jury as testimony in Xiong's murder trial began Friday.

Xiong did want to steal Lor's car, defense lawyer F. Clayton Tyler admitted. But Lor's death was unintentional, Tyler said. The gun Xiong brandished was only meant to scare Lor, and it went off accidentally, Tyler said.

Which version of the Sept. 9 fatal shooting of Lor on the side of a road in Lake Elmo is accepted by the jury will determine whether Xiong goes to prison for the rest of his life or gets out in as little as 10 years.

Prosecutors have charged Xiong, 20, of Oakdale, with first-degree premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence without the possibility for parole.

Xiong is also charged with second-degree murder in the death of Lor, 33, of St. Paul, who was shot once in the stomach and left to die in a ditch.

Assistant Washington County Attorney John Fristik said the motivation for the killing was a silver 2003 Nissan 350Z that Lor advertised for sale on Craigslist. Lor customized the car with numerous aftermarket performance parts, including a turbocharger, Fristik said.

Lor also had covered the hood of the car with a hand-drawn mural of the faces of his four young children and their favorite cartoon characters, including My Little Pony and Hello Kitty.

Fristik wheeled the hood of the car into the courtroom on a cart to show the jury.

He said

Xiong saw the Craigslist ad and decided he wanted the car for parts for his own 350Z.

"He knew this car was sweet," Fristik said. "His plan was to rob and kill Ty Lor to take that car."

Part of that plot included buying a "disposable" cellphone that Xiong used to contact Lor, Fristik said.

Two days before the killing, Xiong sent a text to a friend, Keng Thao, that said, "You want to kill a guy with me?"

Fristik said Xiong gave a fake name when he came to look at the car.

And when Xiong took it for a test drive with Lor, Xiong brought a loaded pistol that had been kept at the grocery store his parents owned, Fristik said.

"He didn't come with a wallet full of cash. He came packing a loaded .40-caliber handgun," Fristik said.

On the afternoon of Sept. 9, Xiong drove with Lor in the car to the side of a road in a semi-rural, somewhat secluded area on North 55th Street in Lake Elmo, Fristik said. He said Xiong tricked Lor into giving him his cellphone.

Fristik said Xiong pretended that he needed to go to the bathroom so he could get the gun out of a jacket pocket. He then shot Lor, left him lying on the side of the road and took off in the car, Fristik said.

He said Xiong stripped the wheels, tires, audio components, gas cap, windshield wipers and hood off the car, then ditched it in Sunfish Lake Park in Lake Elmo.

"His plan was done. He got what he wanted," Fristik said. "A planned, calculated murder by Dao Xiong of Ty Lor."

Xiong's lawyer didn't dispute that Xiong shot Lor, but he said it wasn't intentional.

"Dao wanted a turbo engine. There's no doubt about it," Tyler said. "His plan was to steal the car, not to commit premeditated murder."

As Xiong bent his head and cried, Tyler said his client, "a young kid who never committed a crime in his life," came up with a naive, simple plan to steal the car.

Tyler said Xiong pulled out a gun to scare Lor, but it slipped in his hand, and out of nervousness, he grabbed it.

"And as he grabbed it, the gun went off," Tyler said. "His intent and plan went terribly wrong."

Tyler noted that Xiong was a member of the National Guard and that he cooperated with police after he was arrested.

"Dao Xiong is not a brazen executioner or a psychopathic killer," Tyler said.

Tyler said Xiong is guilty only of second-degree unintentional murder during the commission of a felony, a crime that carries a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison.

Two Minneapolis police officers testified Friday that they happened to be driving separately by the shooting site while off duty, and they saw Lor's body lying on the side of the road and came to his assistance.

One of the officers, Lance Dupaul, said Lor was barely breathing when he arrived on the scene.

Drew Evans, a special agent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, testified that Xiong was tied to the crime with cellphone records and video surveillance tapes showing Xiong at a Target store buying a phone he used to contact Lor.

Xiong's trial continues Monday.

Lor's friend, Keng Thao, 20, of Maplewood faces one count of unintentional murder in the case. His trial is scheduled for October.

Richard Chin can be reached at 651-228-5560.