By Casey Neill
Despite a thorough police investigation, a killer remains at large…
Someone killed Peter Van Danh.
They ran over him in a vehicle as he lay intoxicated on Prior Road, Noble Park, about 10.20pm on 11 September 2014 and then fled the scene.
State Coroner Judge Sara Hinchey concluded after a hearing on 22 March that the driver and vehicle responsible had not been identified.
She said the police Major Collision Investigation Unit conducted “an extremely thorough investigation”.
“Mr Danh’s death is an unsolved homicide case which Victoria Police continues to investigate,” she said.
“I am satisfied that no investigation which I am empowered to undertake would be likely to result in the identification of the person or persons who caused Mr Danh’s death.”
Police initially thought someone deliberately mowed down Mr Danh.
They dismissed the theory when a disturbance in the street thought to have preceded the incident was attributed to witnesses reacting to finding Mr Danh’s body.
His parents, Trung and Anh Danh, called for the driver to come forward at a press conference on 5 November 2015
“He was really nice,” distraught mother Anh said. “He loved me, I loved him.”
Father Trung said: “Every day I can’t forget. It’s like yesterday my son had an accident.”
Forensic pathologist Dr Joanna Glengarry said Mr Danh, 36, suffered “severe head injuries” consistent with “crushing”.
“There was a patterned abrasion and black discolouration of the right side of the face that had appearances suggestive of a tyre tread or similar,” she said.
Judge Hinchey said Mr Danh had methamphetamine, morphine, codeine, diazepam and other drugs in his system at the time of his death.
“It is possible that the combination of the above drugs may have induced drowsiness or fatigue in Mr Danh, however without knowing his drug use history, dosing or times of intake, this remains speculative,” she said.
In her report, Judge Hinchey detailed the tumultuous days leading up to his death.
He was released from custody on 3 September 2014 and was living with his partner Kristy Mohamad in Walsh Street, Noble Park.
The pair had an argument in their driveway on the evening of Wednesday 10 September and several violent altercations at the property over the next 24 hours.
Mr Danh left the house about 10pm on the night of his death and police believe he was captured on CCTV footage at Perry Street and Prior Road about 10.04pm.
They believe he was walking to his parents’ home in Springvale South.
Motorist Pheap Uk turned from Noble Street into Prior Road about 10.08pm and saw Mr Danh in the middle of the road “in a crouched down position sitting on his bottom with his arms around his legs which were bent up in front of him.”
At 10.15pm an unidentified vehicle travelled along Prior Road towards Noble Street and backtracked about 38 seconds later.
Four minutes later Volkan Yildiz turned into Prior Road from Noble Street, noticed an object on the road and slowed down.
“About two metres from the object he recognised it to be a person lying on the road, with blood coming from his head,” Ms Hinchey said.
He called an ambulance.
Another motorist, Jaswant Singh, briefly stopped at the scene about 10.23pm and two minutes later Stevin Toner arrived on his skateboard. He checked for signs of life “and found none”.
Paramedics and police arrived shortly afterwards and declared Mr Danh dead.
