Oberlin professor's son charged with murder after couple found shot dead at home
Asia Nguyen-Duy, 31, is held on $3 million bail after Guggenheim fellow Pipo Nguyen-Duy and his wife Tran Thi Phong were found fatally shot in their Ohio home — a case that began with a burning car on campus.
A burning Toyota hatchback in an Oberlin College parking lot was the first sign something was wrong. By midmorning Wednesday, police had a suspect in custody — and, after forcing their way into a home a few blocks off campus, two people shot dead.
Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, a studio art and photography professor who had taught at the Ohio liberal arts college since 1998 and held a Guggenheim Fellowship, was found on the first floor of his home. Tran Thi Phong, 56, his wife, was discovered on the second floor. Both had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Oberlin Police Department.
The suspect is their 31-year-old child, Daniel Jones — who told the court they go by Asia Nguyen-Duy and use gender-neutral pronouns — of Ashland, Oregon. Asia Nguyen-Duy faces six counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and one count of tampering with evidence, and remains in the Lorain County Jail on $3 million bail. No plea has been entered.
The sequence of events began just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, when Oberlin officers were dispatched to the college's conservatory parking lot after a smoldering vehicle was reported there. The silver Toyota hatchback — bearing Oregon license plates, a boarded-up window, and a pipe sticking out of the roof, according to NBC News — was registered to Jones. Investigators found Jones's wallet, passport, and ammunition inside the car.
Jones was not at the scene. At 10:19 a.m., roughly 90 minutes afterward, a local Oberlin resident phoned police to report a 'wet, disheveled man' at her front door. Officers found Asia Nguyen-Duy roughly a mile from the parking lot and took them into custody without incident. Jones had cuts to their face and injuries to their hand and arm.
What happened at that resident's door added a striking detail to the case. According to prosecutor Zachary Simonoff, Asia Nguyen-Duy asked the woman to record a video to post on the internet.
He told her that he did not want the police involved. In the video, he identifies himself as Asia Nguyen-Duy, says he's escaping a cult. He also says, 'Everything I did was on my own accord and I take full responsibility.'— Zachary Simonoff, Oberlin City Prosecutor
Simonoff told the court that when officers first spoke to Jones, the suspect allegedly said they had 'killed his family' and gave police their father's address. Officers went to the home, forced entry for a wellness check, and found the two victims.
At Thursday's arraignment, Asia Nguyen-Duy — face tattooed and bloodied, according to the Seattle Times — was initially carried into the Oberlin Municipal Court in handcuffs and ankle shackles before later being wheeled in on a chair. Judge Farah L. Emeka set bail at $3 million, doubling the $1.5 million both the prosecutor and defense attorney had agreed to.
Given the egregious nature of the charges— Judge Farah L. Emeka, Oberlin Municipal Court
The case is set to go before a grand jury in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, Emeka said. According to the prosecutor, the firearm used in the shooting has yet to be recovered. A motive remains under investigation.
A mental health dimension has emerged in the case. Oberlin police have been in contact with Asia Nguyen-Duy's biological mother in Oregon, who told officials her child was 'currently psychotic' and needed medication, according to the prosecutor. Asia Nguyen-Duy's biological mother told NBC News she was too upset to comment.
Pipo Nguyen-Duy had been a fixture at Oberlin for nearly three decades. According to the Guggenheim Foundation, he came to the United States from Vietnam in 1975 as a political refugee and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in economics from Carleton College, followed by both a master of arts and a master of fine arts from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. He took up photography in his late 20s and became a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow in Photography. Collections in the United States, Europe, and Asia have displayed his work.
In his wide-ranging body of work, Nguyen-duy considered immigration and emigration, intimacy, abandonment and decay, cultural assimilation, and the cost of war.— Guggenheim Foundation, statement on Instagram
Tran Thi Phong, 56, was Asia Nguyen-Duy's stepmother, police confirmed.
Tragedies such as this one intrude upon our lives in jarring ways. I am simply overwhelmed with sadness, and I am deeply concerned about the impact of the devastating loss of Pipo to our community. Pipo was beloved. During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography.— Carmen Twillie Ambar, President, Oberlin College and Conservatory
The killings came the week students returned from fall break. The college issued a shelter-in-place order on Wednesday at police request, and studio art classes were paused or modified. An exhibit of Nguyen-Duy's photography was placed on display at the campus art museum as a gathering point for students, alumni, and collaborators. A memorial tribute is being planned. Digital forums for condolences were set up by Oberlin and regional institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.
The case now moves to a grand jury in Lorain County, where jurors will decide whether to indict. Asia Nguyen-Duy remains in the Lorain County Jail.
Why it matters — The killing of a celebrated Oberlin professor by his own child — with an alleged confession, a missing weapon, and questions about the suspect's mental health — leaves a tight-knit college community grieving while a grand jury prepares to decide whether to indict.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- Asia Nguyen-Duy said in the recorded video that they were 'escaping a cult.'
Reported by theguardian.com, nbcnews.com, abcnews.com, nytimes.com, seattletimes.com
