A long-running Plymouth murder case is back in the spotlight after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with the Boston field office arrested Khambor Phouthongseng, a Laotian national convicted in a 1990 homicide, in the Boston area on Monday, according to court and agency records.
Phouthongseng was one of three people convicted in the killing of Daravanh Phachansiri after a birthday party in Plymouth, a case that has generated years of trials, appeals and parole hearings. He is now in ICE custody and will face immigration proceedings.
ICE publicly announced the arrest, and local reporting filled in details about his criminal and immigration record. According to the Boston Herald, ICE said Phouthongseng’s record includes convictions for second‑degree murder and kidnapping and that he had previously been ordered removed from the United States.
Conviction and case details
Phouthongseng was tried with two others in the 1990 killing, and a jury found them guilty of second‑degree murder and kidnapping after a 15‑day trial in May 1991. The appeals‑court opinion recounts eyewitness testimony and forensic findings that the victim suffered manual strangulation and blunt‑force trauma and was found injured near a gas station after what witnesses described as a violent struggle. Those findings are outlined by the Mass. Appeals Court.
Parole and immigration history
State parole records and life‑sentence decisions show Phouthongseng has long been on the parole board’s docket. Per the Massachusetts Parole Board, a life‑sentence decision in his name appears on the state’s list of life‑sentence records and related documents…