Jim Loo, a 24-year-old Chinese-American restaurant worker, was fatally injured after an attack following a night out in Raleigh, North Carolina. On July 28, 1989, Loo and six friends were confronted at the Cue ’N’ Spirits on Atlantic Avenue by brothers Lloyd and Robert Piche, who hurled racially charged slurs and made hostile gestures. The brothers left, waited in the parking lot, and when Loo’s group emerged Robert Piche first threatened and then struck members of the group, hitting Loo in the head; a broken beer bottle pierced Loo’s head and he collapsed. Loo died of brain injuries two days later on July 29, 1989.

The case drew national attention from Asian-American organizations determined to avoid a repeat of earlier perceived injustices in a racially motivated killing. At trial a Wake County jury convicted Robert Piche of second-degree murder on March 19, 1990; he received a 37-year sentence that included assault with a deadly weapon convictions. Lloyd Piche was convicted of misdemeanor assault and served time; he was also prosecuted federally and convicted on civil-rights counts, receiving federal prison time and a restitutionary fine. Did anyone in Raleigh at the time witness the confrontation or the attack and not yet come forward?