Authorities let man linked to Noelle O'Soup's death 'fail over and over again': immigration official

Years before a man linked to the deaths of teenager Noelle O'Soup and another woman was released from custody despite being considered a danger to the public, an Immigration and Refugee Board member asked why authorities "were letting him fail over and over again."

Colleen Zuk's comments came during one of the numerous hearings that led to Van Chung Pham's final release from detention in October 2020, 16 months before the bodies of O'Soup and another woman were found in his Downtown Eastside apartment.

Pham was facing deportation to Vietnam for criminality.

According to a new trove of immigration documents obtained by CBC, he had been previously released from immigration custody, but was thrown back behind bars after violating conditions meant to protect the public from a man who exchanged drugs for sex.

In November 2019, Zuk asked why Pham had remained at large for months despite the fact police observed him dealing drugs and investigated him for homicide in connection with another overdose death during that time.

"The conditions are put in place for a reason. It's to ensure oversight so that he doesn't escalate to the point of becoming a danger to the public, and when I look at all of this information it looks like [Vancouver police] and [the Canada Border Services Agency] were letting him fail over and over again," Zuk said

"So I am just wondering if you can comment on the rationale of leaving Mr. Pham in the street for so long when he was clearly in a relapse and clearly violating all of his conditions?"

Demands for accountability

The IRB provided CBC with more than 300 pages of transcripts from hearings held over a number of years relating to Pham's detention and sporadic releases from immigration custody as he awaited deportation.

The documents provide new details about the man at the centre of a tragedy that has left O'Soup's family calling for accountability from a system that failed to protect the 14-year-old from a man with a troubling past.

Police discovered Pham's body in his room in the Heatley Block in February, but did not find the bodies of O'Soup and the other woman until May 1, when they were called back to the unit by neighbours who complained of the smell.

That oversight has led to a neglect of duty investigation against an officer involved in the case by the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner.

The VPD has said Pham's death is not suspicious, but the other two deaths are part of a major crimes investigation.

Pham came to Canada from Vietnam in 1993 after spending years in refugee camps.

He was first ordered deported in 2012 following a series of convictions for break and enter and drug trafficking. That order was stayed, but then reinstated in 2016 after he was caught dealing drugs again.

'There was a dead person in Mr. Pham's suite'

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires periodic reviews to justify the ongoing detention of people who, like Pham, may face deportation because of past criminal deeds but who aren't currently charged with a crime.

At one hearing, Zuk noted that Pham faced charges in 1995 for forcible confinement and kidnapping that did not result in convictions.

Immigration officials argued Pham was a danger to the public because of his history of selling drugs like fentanyl, which are fuelling the overdose crisis gripping the Downtown Eastside. But IRB members can release people if they are satisfied specific conditions will mitigate danger.

Pham was released on Sept. 7, 2018, on a promise to "keep the peace and be of good behaviour," not to possess drugs or alcohol, and to stay out of the Downtown Eastside.

A no-go zone was even demarcated on a map appended to his release form.

The IRB transcripts say Pham violated curfew after just three months. In the months that followed, he was arrested in possession of drugs and released twice without charges for trafficking fentanyl. 

On June 27, 2019, a woman died of an overdose in his room at the Hotel Canada. Pham, who reported the death, was initially arrested and investigated for homicide.

"They made the determination that there wasn't enough evidence to charge him," one IRB member observed.

"The fact remains there was a dead person in Mr. Pham's suite."

According to the immigration documents, staff at the Canada Hotel, where Pham lived for a number of years, claimed he brought women to his room to trade drugs for sex.

Three days after the overdose death, he was seen in the company of a 25-year-old woman who "admitted that she was going to your suite to do drugs and that she'd done that before," one IRB transcript reads.

Those factors led Zuk to ask why Pham was left free despite violating all the conditions of his release in plain sight for months.

'The Minister dropped the ball'

Logan Sherwood, counsel for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, responded that "information is not always shared between the police, being the VPD or other police services, and the CBSA."

He also said "the Minister dropped the ball by not following up" to see if Pham was attending mandatory counselling.

Immigration officials were not able to obtain the travel documents needed to return Pham to Vietnam, pointing the finger at Vietnamese officials.

With no prospect for removal, another IRB member found that he had no choice but to release Pham one last time in October 2020 with virtually no supervision or conditions to abide by, save to show up if and when his deportation happened.

Weeks later, Pham allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a woman, leading to another Vancouver police investigation and the approval of criminal charges just days before his death.

The alleged victim of that crime spoke with CBC last month about her shock at learning authorities knew about Pham's history and released him into the community repeatedly despite numerous chances to keep him locked up.

"A lot of people should be responsible for the way they've dealt with him," the 29-year-old said.

"There is no justice that will ever happen for the other girls, for me and for past girls that I've known about or will never know about. I think that's what's most upsetting."