Modesto, CA: Co-worker says he warned slaying victim to 'watch out' for woman's husband

By Andy Furillo - afurillo@sacbee.com


A co-worker testified Wednesday that he warned slain correctional officer Steve Lo to "watch out" for the former sheriff's deputy who is now accused of planning Lo's murder.
Anthony Tran, a fellow correctional officer at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, said Lo once pointed out to him another employee at the prison, Chia Vue, and said "she looks pretty good."
"He was admiring her," Tran testified in Sacramento Superior Court.
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

Steve Lo was gunned down in 2008; former sheriff's deputy Chu Vue is on trial for murder.

Chia Vue, however, was married at the time to Chu Vue, a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy. Tran said he knew that Chu Vue also was employed as a law enforcement officer and that it would be in Lo's best interests to be careful with Chia Vue.
"I told him, 'Watch out for her husband. He's a CHP, California Highway Patrol,' " Tran testified, about his mistaken law enforcement agency reference. "He shook his head. He said, 'I know.' "
Lo, 39, was gunned down in the garage of his Tambor Way home in south Sacramento on Oct. 15, 2008. Vue, 45, is on trial for murder in the killing along with co- defendant and cousin Lang Vue, 27, who is accused of aiding and abetting the killing by procuring rental cars, motel rooms and then buying a sport-utility vehicle for the purported gunmen in the case.
Authorities say the shooters were Chu Vue's younger brothers, Gary Vue, 29, and Chong Vue, 31. They are scheduled to be tried separately later this month.
At the time of Steve Lo's death, the brothers were wanted for murder in a 2001 gang-related drive-by shooting death in Minnesota. Both have since been convicted in that case.
Police and prosecutors say Chu Vue planned the fatal attack on Lo because the correctional officer, despite his colleague's warning, launched into an affair with the former deputy's wife.
Besides Tran, two other employees at the Vacaville prison where they all worked with Lo and Chia Vue said they also saw the pair getting close on the job.
The two were "always together, having lunch" said Agnes Fisherman, who, like Chia Vue, worked as a medical technical assistant at the prison.
Leonard Terry, a supervising medical technical assistant, said he saw Lo and Chia Vue in her car on the prison grounds. Terry testified he also fielded telephone calls from Chu Vue, who was trying to track down his wife.
"He wanted to know if his wife was at work," Terry said about the calls from Chu Vue that came in several hours after Chia Vue had completed her shift.
Police and prosecutors say Chu Vue discovered the affair in July 2008 and that he cased Lo's home in drive-bys caught on a neighbor's security camera, in the months leading up to the killing in October.
Also Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall focused on Chu Vue's surreptitious purchase of property near Corning in Tehama County, where investigators say the former deputy's younger brothers hid out while on the lam from murder charges in Minnesota.
Pictures of the property displayed Wednesday and earlier in the trial on Tuesday showed an $8,000 manufactured house with sheet plastic covering the windows.
"It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere," next-door neighbor Cindy Blanning testified. "Everybody kind of does their own thing" in the area, she said.
Police and prosecutors say Chu Vue bought the $83,000 lot through a relative.
The purchase and improvements all took place in spring 2007, more than a year before authorities say Chu Vue discovered his wife was cheating on him. The purchase occurred about one year after Chu Vue's brothers disappeared after arrest warrants were issued for them for the 2001 Minnesota murder.