Lowell murder trial delayed, investigator allegedly caused fatal crash

A retrial for three brothers accused of murdering a man in Lowell has been delayed indefinitely over concerns about a State Police investigator who was allegedly driving drunk when he was involved in a fatal crash.

Billoeum, Billy, and Channa Phan are charged with the September 2020 murder of Tyrone Phet in Lowell, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said. They allegedly drove to Phet’s house and waited about 21 minutes before fatally shooting him while he was sitting in his car.

The brothers were indicted in January 2021 in Middlesex Superior Court, court filings show. They pleaded not guilty, and the first attempt to prosecute them in November 2024 ended in a mistrial when the jury deadlocked.

A retrial was set to begin in January, but it was repeatedly pushed back, court records show. Justice Christopher Barry-Smith determined Tuesday that the trial, which was set to begin April 27, could not reliably proceed.

Why does the Phan brothers’ trial keep getting delayed?

The reasons behind these delays revolve around State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley, who was involved in a fatal crash in Woburn in December 2023, records show. Quigley, who investigated the Phan brothers’ case, struck a wheelchair van with his police cruiser. One month after the crash, Angelo Schettino, a passenger in that van, died from his injuries.

The investigation into Quigley is still underway, but new revelations have complicated the situation. Prosecutors told the Phan brothers’ attorneys that Quigley may have been drunk when he crashed his cruiser and allegedly had a .11 blood alcohol level, the Boston Herald reported.

In a Feb. 20 statement from his attorney, Quigley insisted that the crash was “an unfortunate and tragic accident — not a criminal act,” according to the Boston Herald. He has further asserted that he is immune from civil penalties because he was on duty at the time that the crash occurred.

Additionally, Sgt. Jennifer Penton, who investigated Quigley’s crash, is charged with manslaughter for her alleged involvement in the death of a recruit at the State Police Training Academy in 2024. Penton, who interviewed Quigley eight days after the crash, is currently suspended without pay.

Due to this discovery, Barry-Smith held a March 6 hearing with the Phan brothers’ attorneys to determine whether the previously-planned April 27 trial date was still realistic. Following the justice’s decision, it remains unclear when the trial will now proceed.

What happens next?

In the decision, Barry-Smith wrote that he had “no insight into the time frame” for the investigation into Quigley, who has not been criminally charged. He explained that any further legal course of action involving the Phan brothers could depend on the scope of the charges brought against Quigley.

Furthermore, if the trial proceeded and the jury convicted the brothers, they could easily motion for a new trial on the grounds that the investigation into Quigley was not yet complete. Essentially, any effort to proceed with the trial on April 27 would likely result in another trial or additional cause for delays, Barry-Smith wrote.

“Defendants’ right to a fair trial and judicial economy warrant a longer continuance, to provide time for the criminal investigation to be conducted,” the justice said.

However, the justice stipulated that showing “egregious prosecutorial or police misconduct and prejudice to the defendant’s right to a fair trial” is not enough to dismiss the charges against the brothers. If the Phans are to get their case thrown out, they must show “irremediable harm to the defendant’s opportunity to obtain a fair trial” and evidence of prejudice that could only be resolved by the case’s dismissal.

With no clear trial date in sight, the steps to move ahead with prosecuting the Phan brothers are limited, according to the decision. They now have a bail hearing scheduled for Friday morning and a status conference scheduled for June 2 to “discuss any updates on the investigations referenced above and, if appropriate, schedule a new trial date.”