The son of a Texas couple who were found bound and shot to death execution-style in a gated community on Saturday believes his parents may have been followed by someone who knew they had cash to deposit from their Subway sandwich franchises.
Richard Lam said his parents, Bao and Jenny Lam, were in the process of handing the day-to-day operations of their fast-food chain to him, including putting him in charge of depositing the proceeds from the six sandwich shops at the bank.
Last week, however, Richard was away on a cruise, so his parents were back in charge of running their eateries and taking care of the cash deposits.
Their son came back from his vacation on Saturday morning and tried calling his parents several times, but no one picked up.
Son speaks out: Richard Lam (left) suspects someone targeted his slain parents, Bao and Jenny Lam (right) because they knew the pair had cash from their Subway eateries
Police say the couple were found bound and shot on the first floor of their home (pictured) in a gated community late Saturday night
That evening, he drove to their home in the 16500 block of Glorietta Turn in Spring and called 911 at 8pm, asking to perform a welfare check.
Police broke into the two-story home around 9pm and found the couple bound and shot dead on the first floor.
The home – located in the gated Northgate Country Club community – was ransacked, with firearms and other items missing.
‘Everything was disturbed,’ said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told KTRK. ‘Furniture was overturned, drawers were opened. It will take some time to process the scene.’
It appears that the couple, both aged 61, were attacked as they parked their car in the garage, and that they could have been dead for up to three days before their bodies were found.
The grieving son now suspects that someone followed his parents, knew that they were in possession of a ‘cash bag’ from their businesses, followed them home from work and ambushed them.
Richard shared these pictures of him and his parents after their bodies were found this weekend
‘They did not deserve any of that,’ the younger Mr Lam told the station KPRC2. ‘They would have given anything to them [the robbers].’
Richard said his parents, both of whom came to the US as teenagers on student visas, worked hard for years to build their business and treated their employees like family.
The Lams were also active in the local Buddhist community and supported the temple where they worshipped by donating their time and money.
‘They wanted to pay it forward, doing good things, bringing good karma so it comes back down on future generations, on us – my sister and myself,’ Richard said.
‘It’s very scary. That’s why I am worried right now,’ one neighbor said. ‘You don’t know what is going on next door.’
Police are hopeful that surveillance cameras in the neighborhood will help them nab the person or persons responsible.
Anyone with information on the double murder is being asked to call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-274-9100 or CrimeStoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Local police say it looks like the couple were targeted as they were parking their car into the garage (above, the home on Saturday night)