Bunker Street shootings: Details of alleged double-slaying emerge in Redding police report

Following a shooting last week that left two dead in a Bunker Street home, prosecutors have charged the next-door neighbor with two counts of murder. 

Police arrested Nouan Mokthephathai, 75, last week after the discovery of two bloodied bodies in a house next to his in east Redding.

Police allege Mokthephathai was at the home of his next-door neighbor, Ya Sosavanh, 68, when he shot and killed Sosavanh and another man, Cheng Chu, 64. Chu was identified as Mokthephathai's landlord in the report.

The bodies of Sosavanh and Chu were discovered later that day by Sosavanh's wife when she returned home around 5 p.m., according to a police report.

Authorities in the report said Mokthephathai admitted to shooting one of the men, his landlord, Chu, in an interview at the Redding Police Department.

At the time of the shooting, police said they were still working to understand what had happened. The report sheds more light on the incident, stating that Mokthephathai had been upset with Chu because Chu wanted to evict him. 

In one interview, Mokthephathai told investigators that Chu was the one who shot Sosavanh. While the police report never came to a direct conclusion about how or why Mokthephathai allegedly shot Sosavanh, they said they had enough evidence to arrest him on suspicion of both killings. 

Police noted finding a large amount of blood around the bodies but also saw a pistol in Chu's hand "in a position that appeared to be concerning." Inspection of the pistol showed it did not appear to be covered in blood like the surrounding area, according to the report.

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How police found their suspect

The report states an investigator had interviewed Mokthephathai after the bodies were discovered around 5 p.m. and that Mokthephathai appeared to be intoxicated from medication and said he had been home all day. 

Around 4 a.m. the following day, Mokthephathai called dispatchers and asked to speak with the investigator who came to his house. When an investigator called back, Mokthephathai said he was “in debt to Chu and Chu was attempting to evict him from the residence,” according to the report. 

Chu’s wife told police her husband had left to go to the property where Mokthephathai lives the morning of the day he was shot. Security footage from a nearby business appears to show Chu arriving at Sosavanh’s home, then at one point, walking over to Mokthephathai’s house next door. Mokthephathai had previously denied having any contact with Chu that day, according to the report. 

Soon after, police searched Mokthephathai’s home and found a locked shed next to an “aggressive male pit bull” according to the report. 

Inside the shed, they found a shotgun with a spent slug round husk still chambered. That seemed to match up with a large round they had found in the home next door near Chu’s body, according to the report.

In their search of Mokthephathai’s home, police also found code enforcement paperwork in connection to possible fines for growing marijuana. Chu's real estate agent had told police Mokthephathai had been caught growing marijuana on the property, according to the report. 

Police asked Mokthephathai to be interviewed again on April 24. 

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What the neighbor told investigators

Speaking Laotian, Mokthephathai said he was in debt to Chu over marijuana and said Chu had been harassing him and telling him to move out, according to the report. Asked about the previous day, Mokthephathai said Chu told him he was coming to the house and figured it was to harass him further about eviction. 

When Chu arrived, Mokthephathai said Chu asked him for help translating a letter from Chu’s son. Mokthephathai said he and Chu walked to Sosavanh's house so he could help Chu translate it, according to the report.

At Sosavanh's home, Mokthephathai said Sosavanh and Chu began arguing in English, which he could not understand. Mokthephathai then said Chu shot Sosavanh. Asked where Chu came up with the gun, Mokthephathai “could not provide an answer," according to the report.

“Mokthephathai initially made comments that he had left and walked back to his house, then made statements that he had attempted to take the gun from Chu and it went off,” according to the report.

Mokthephathai said he went home but then returned to Sosavanh’s house to see if they were dead. Mokthephathai then said when he went to his house, he got his gun and came back and shot Chu, according to the report. 

Based on the evidence, police arrested Mokthephathai on suspicion of shooting the men. 

Mokthephathai remains in the Shasta County Jail with bail set at $2 million. He is scheduled to next appear in court on July 2, according to the Shasta County District Attorney's Office. 

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Matt Brannon covers politics, the criminal justice system and breaking news for the Record Searchlight. Follow him on Twitter @MattBrannon_RS. Support local coverage and keep up with the North State for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.