Details emerge in Rostraver Township murder-for-hire plot
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
An hour before his death, Boyke Budiarachman, 49, spoke to his sister via FaceTime and said he was about to have dinner with Keven Van Lam, 56.
It was the last time they would speak.
After nearly a year of continuances, the preliminary hearing for Lam, who is charged in Budiarachman’s murder, was held Wednesday at the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Magisterial District Judge Wayne Vlasic ordered him to stand trial on all charges of first-degree murder, criminal solicitation of homicide, criminal conspiracy to commit homicide and tampering with physical evidence stemming from the November murder in the Rostraver Square shopping plaza.
The hearing took roughly three hours as a certified Vietnamese interpreter translated everything that was asked and answered throughout.
Westmoreland County Detective Rick Kranitz testified that Lam eventually told police he paid a Vietnamese man in Philadelphia known only as Tuan $65,000 to hit Budiarachman in the leg with a baseball bat. Tuan has never been identified or interviewed.
However, Kranitz said, just before telling that version of his story, Lam reported he paid Tuan $80,000 to shoot Budiarachman in the leg.
Kranitz also testified there is surveillance video of the murder as it happened, though it was not entered into evidence Wednesday nor was it shown in court.
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