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 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?"

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.