It remains to be seen if Brian Tzeo, 43, of Conover, will face criminal prosecution for his admitted involvement in opium trafficking.
Tzeo has been in California since last Friday attending to the burial of his wife, Lisa Phan, 40, and children Melanie, 20, Pauline, 18, and son, Cody, 4, who were discovered murdered March 12 in their Bunker Hill-area home on Gristmill Drive.
District Attorney Jay Gaither said Thursday he is waiting for the results of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office's investigation into the killings and drug trafficking at the home before deciding whether to file criminal charges against Brian Tzeo.
The investigation into the murders and drug trafficking is ongoing, said Chief Deputy Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office. He gave no estimate on when the investigation would be turned over to the District Attorney for review.
Chiew Chan Saevang, 37, murdered Tzeo's family shortly after Tzeo left for work March 12. Saevang was living in Schofield, Wis., at the time of the murders.
On the morning of the murders, sheriff's office investigators found a knife and handgun near the crime scene. According to a release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, "A trace of the firearm found at the scene revealed that the weapon had been linked to a resident of Appleton, Wis."
Catawba County investigators traveled to Wisconsin where they continued their investigation.
"Saevang was in Wausau as recently as Sunday (March 15) and was reported to be packing up some personal effects. Saevang made statements that he was going to pick up his girlfriend, identified as Yer Yang. Yang also had an apartment in Wausau," according to the Wisconsin DOJ.
Yang, 40, of Long View, flew into Madison, Wis., from North Carolina late Sunday night, March 15, or early Monday morning, March 16, and Saevang made the roughly 2.5 hour drive south to the Madison airport from Wausau to pick her up. The two then fled the state Tuesday night, March 17, according to the release.
Saevang and Yang were in Saevang's BMW on March 18 when Utah authorities spotted them on Interstate 15 within seven minutes of being alerted by Catawba County law enforcement that the couple may have been in the area on their way to California.
The car Saevang and Yang were in crashed after Utah police attempted to pull them over. Their bodies were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds, according to Utah authorities.
"We believe it was a murder-suicide," said Chief Deputy Rob Tersigni of the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Utah. He said Saevang was driving the car when it crashed, and the $150,000 to $200,000 of opium Saevang is believed to have stolen from Tzeo's home was not found in the car.
A crime scene specialist from the Catawba County Sheriff's Office and an SBI agent were dispatched to Washington County, Utah, to continue their investigation, said Capt. Roy Brown of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
They were sent to interview the Washington County deputies about what happened the night Saevang and Yang died and to recover evidence from Saevang's BMW, Tersigni said.
"Our end of the investigation is complete," he added.
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