2014-11-14

Man wanted in 1996 homicide found, returned to Amarillo

A fugitive charged in the 1996 slaying of his wife in Amarillo is back in Potter County after 18 years on the run, according to Potter County jail records and Texas Department of Public Safety.

Ngoc Van Tran, 44, originally from Vietnam, was arrested Thursday after being located in Mexico by the U.S. Marshals Service, DPS Senior Trooper Chris Ray said.

Tran is charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife, Mildred Diannia "Pam" Packer.

Packer, then 33, was last seen about 9 p.m. Sept. 17, 1996, in an Asian restaurant on Amarillo Boulevard with Tran. She had left her three children with family, who said they were immediately afraid for her safety when she didn't return that night, according to Amarillo Globe-News files.

When she had not returned for the children after two days, the family reported her disappearance to local law enforcement.

Packer's body was found about 5:30 a.m. Oct. 15, 1996, in the trunk of a maroon Oldsmobile parked outside of the Villa Apartments, now the Cross Timbers Apartments, 2601 N. Grand St., Amarillo Globe-News files show. She had been missing for four weeks.

Tran's criminal history includes delivery of cocaine to an undercover police officer and burglary in 1989, DPS records show.

In 1990, Tran was charged with larceny. He served prison time in prison before he was granted parole in May 1992, DPS said.

In 1996, Tran was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon, assault causing bodily injury and evading arrest or detention with a motor vehicle.

Tran, who speaks fluent Spanish, was long thought to have fled to Mexico, but authorities had been unable to locate him. His case was featured on episodes of the television shows "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries." A reward of $5,000 was offered for information leading to Tran's arrest.

After Packer's body was discovered, Amarillo police requested the help of marshals, Supervisory Deputy Marshal Garry Brewer said.

"They requested our assistance back then," Brewer said. "We've been working on the case ever since."

In 2010, Tran's case was transferred to Deputy Marshal Darrell Clark.

"He really started digging into it," Brewer said. "In 2011, he was able to obtain information of Tran's exact location in Mexico."

Marshals began working to obtain a provisional arrest warrant, a type of international extradition warrant, Brewer said. Tran was arrested in June 2012 and has been fighting extradition ever since. After his appeals in Mexico ran out, marshals from Dallas went into Mexico to bring him back to Potter County.

Tran had become involved in a major drug trafficking operation while in Mexico, Brewer said. He declined to reveal exactly where Tran was arrested for fear of disrupting ongoing investigations in the region.

Tran was flown into Amarillo on Thursday afternoon and booked into Potter County jail on charges of murder, evading arrest or detention in a motor vehicle and a parole violation on original charges of burglary of a habitation and delivery of a controlled substance, records show.

Tran is being held in lieu of $1,005,000 bail but faces a parole violation hold from Texas Department of Criminal Justice and an immigration hold, preventing him from posting bail, jail personnel said.

"This was a major case. It shows that these things don't ever go away," Brewer said. "The U.S. Marshals Service and law enforcement as a whole are going to continue to try to track down and locate these people and bring them to justice for the families and the victims."