The grandson of an Anchorage couple killed in May 2013 said Monday in Anchorage Superior Court he was certain the man responsible for the death of his grandparents was sitting in the courtroom.
Von Seng was called as the state's second witness in the trial against Jerry Andrew Active, who is accused of a double murder in a Mountain View apartment and a slew of other felonies.
Seng testified that he became furious when Active punched his wife, Minesoreta Seng, as Active tried to flee the apartment-turned-murder-scene.
"I did what I believe anyone would have done, and I started to fight him," Von Seng said.
Prosecutors questioned the Sengs during the second day of Active's trial.
The 26-year-old Togiak man, who has spent most of his adult life in and out of prison, is accused of murdering 73-year-old Touch Chea and 71-year-old Sorn Sreap in the apartment. He also has been charged with sexually assaulting three generations of the family, including a toddler and a 90-year-old great-grandmother.
Prosecutors guided the witnesses through the day of the murders, May 25, 2013. They asked questions closely tied to their opening presentation last week.
"It was just a normal day," Von Seng said before attorneys began asking questions about what transpired later that evening.
Minesoreta Seng was the first witness to take the stand. She breathed deeply between terse responses, holding the microphone up to her face, as she spoke too softly for others to hear.
The Sengs both tried to call Sorn Sreap after watching "Fast and Furious 6" at a movie theater that night. No one answered, they said. It was the first of many red flags.
When they returned to the apartment, Minesoreta Seng spotted her in-laws lying on the floor after Von Seng broke a window and climbed inside, she said. Following through the window, Minesoreta cut her hand. The state displayed a photo of the injury -- long gashes on the top of her right hand.
After checking on Von's great-grandmother, who appeared to be all right watching television in one of two bedrooms, Minesoreta Seng searched for her 2-year-old daughter, she said.
She had to force open the door to her bedroom. Inside was Active, who was trying to hide his face, she said. Her daughter climbed up onto the bed.
"She looked scared," Minesoreta Seng said.
Von Seng's version of events differed somewhat from his wife's, both in court Monday and in their statement to police, according to Active's defense attorney, Chong Yim. During cross-examination, Yim repeated many of the state's questions but also delved into the couple's varying accounts to police.
Yim argues Active was never in the apartment, and he's not guilty of the murders or sexual assaults.
Von Seng testified that he looked into his daughter's bedroom after discovering his grandparents dead and she looked OK.
Yim asked if the window in the bedroom was large enough to escape out of. It was, the Sengs responded.
Yim asked whose blood was on their daughter's torso. Minesoreta Seng said she hugged the child to comfort her.
"Yes, it's my blood," she told the court.
The defense attorney said during his opening statement that detectives could not find anything to link Active to the scene of the crimes despite a large amount of potential DNA evidence -- an observation the Sengs echoed on Monday.
Yim also asked multiple questions about whether the man the Sengs caught in the apartment was Active.
Von Seng said he grabbed Active by the throat while they were still in the apartment. He pushed the man's head up. He said he is positive the man was Active.
"I remember the man I fought," he said.
Testimony from Von Seng will continue Tuesday morning. Neighbors who witnessed the Sengs' fight with the suspect spill out to the front of the building are also expected to take the stand.
Correction: This story originally misidentified Von Seng as Vong Seng.