Investigation of Triple Homicide Allegedly Committed by Oceanside Man 'Far From Over': Sheriff

OCEANISDE, CA: The investigation into why an Oceanside man allegedly bound and killed a Santa Barbara-area couple and their young daughter “is far from over,” according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.

With the assistance of Oceanside police, Pierre Haobsh, 27, was taken into custody about 12:30 a.m. Friday at a gas station on State Route 76 and Olive Hill Road in Bonsall — nearly 200 miles south of where the bodies of slain Goleta acupuncturist Henry Han, 57; Han's 29-year-old wife, Huijie "Jennie" Yu, and their 5-year-old daughter, Emily were found Wednesday.

“This was a diabolical, pre-meditated crime, one of the most odious that I have ever been involved with or that this agency has ever investigated,” Brown said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to thoroughly investigate its circumstances and bring evidence … so that justice can be served.”

Deputies conducting a welfare check at the behest of a concerned colleague of Henry Han's found the bodies of the victims in the garage of their Greenhill Way home early Wednesday evening, bound by duct tape and wrapped in plastic sheeting. They appeared to have been shot to death.

Autopsy results are pending.

"We are still investigating the motive for this crime, but preliminary indications are that it was for financial gain," Brown said.

Detectives recovered a loaded 9 mm pistol and property believed to belong to one of the victims in the suspect's 2013 Lexus sedan, Brown told reporters.

The colleague who alerted authorities Wednesday had grown concerned because Henry Han missed a business meeting Wednesday morning in Los Angeles, which was highly uncharacteristic of him, Brown said. After several failed attempts to contact the doctor, two business associates went to his home where they saw the front door ajar and the couple’s two vehicles parked in their garage.

Sheriff’s investigators interviewed several people to establish a timeline of the family’s whereabouts leading up to their tragic deaths.

Jennie Han and her daughter Emily were last seen alive at approximately 7 p.m. on Tuesday, while Henry Han was last seen about 10 p.m. the same evening.

Information obtained during the investigation pointed to Haobsh — who was recently involved in a business transaction with Henry Han — as the suspect in the killings, prompting the Santa Barbara investigators to issue a warrant for his arrest. Upon determining he was an Oceanside resident, Oceanside police were contacted for their assistance.

A surveillance operation was initiated and when Haobsh was seen driving a vehicle that detectives had previously matched him to, he was followed to an Arco gas station in Bonsall just east of Oceanside city limits, where he was taken into custody.

“I want to take a moment to express my admiration for our Criminal Investigations Division investigators, whose tenacity and investigative skill led to an arrest being made within 32 hours of our agency’s involvement with this case,” Brown said. “I also want to recognize, thank and acknowledge the extraordinary assistance we have received from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Justice Crime Lab, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oceanside Police Department.”

The sheriff called it a “tragic case” and “terrible blow” to the Santa Barbara area and to the medical community at large.

“Dr. Han had an impressive background in both Chinese herbal medicine and Western medicine,” Brown said. “He co-authored several books on the integration of the two medical techniques and he owned and ran the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic since 1991. Dr. Han had an extensive patient network in the Santa Barbara area and beyond.”

Jennie Han worked alongside her husband at the clinic.

“... By all accounts they were loving parents to their daughter Emily,” Brown said. “The murder of young Emily, who would have turned 6 (on Saturday), is especially difficult …”

Reached Saturday, Oceanside police Spokesman Ryan Keim deferred questions about Haobsh’s arrest to Santa Barbara authorities.

Because the investigation is ongoing, Brown said they do not anticipate releasing anymore information until early next week.

"This investigation is far from over. It is complex and ongoing."

—City News Service contributed to this report.

(Photos provided by Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office)