What happened
A well-liked Oberlin College professor and his wife were fatally shot in their Ohio home on Wednesday, police said. According to a police incident report, officers found the body of Pipo Hieu Nguyen-Duy, 64, on the first floor of the house. His wife, Tran Thi Phong, 56, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom. Police said both appear to have been shot.
The case began shortly before 9 a.m., when Oberlin officers went to the Oberlin College Conservatory parking lot after a report of a smoldering vehicle. The report describes a silver Toyota hatchback with Oregon plates, a boarded-up window and a pipe protruding from the roof. Police traced the car to the professor's child, who was not nearby.
Officers found that person about two blocks away at around 10:19 a.m. and took them into custody without a struggle, police said. After dealing with the suspect, officers went to check on the family's home. They forced their way in and found the couple, according to the report. Phong was the suspect's stepmother.
Charges and court appearance
Police identified the suspect as Daniel Jones, of Ashland, Oregon. At Thursday's arraignment, the defendant asked to be addressed with gender-neutral pronouns and said they go by Asia Nguyen-Duy. This article uses that name and those pronouns.
The charges are murder (six counts), felonious assault (four counts) and tampering with evidence (one count). An attorney for the defendant did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment on Friday. Police have not said what motivated the killings.
NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland reported that officers brought the defendant into the courtroom in handcuffs and ankle restraints. The judge set bond at $3 million, citing the egregious nature of the crime. The defendant's biological mother declined to comment, saying she was too upset.
What the prosecutor described
The prosecutor told the court that ammunition was found in the defendant's car. The prosecutor also said the defendant had knocked on an Oberlin resident's door and asked her to film a video to post online. In it, according to the prosecutor, the defendant said they were escaping a cult and stated that “everything I did was on my own accord and I take full responsibility.”
Police were later called about a disheveled person and found the defendant with scratches on the face and injuries to an arm and hand, the prosecutor said. The defendant told officers they had killed their family and supplied the address of the family home, the prosecutor said. The weapon used in the shooting has not been found.
These accounts came from the prosecutor at the arraignment. The defendant is facing the charges, and the case has not been tried.
Remembering the professor
Oberlin College described Nguyen-Duy as a “beloved professor” of studio art and photography who had taught at the school since 1998. In a statement, college president Carmen Twillie Ambar said, “During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography.” She called him “a cherished colleague and a vibrant presence in the classroom and throughout campus.”
According to a biography on his website, Nguyen-Duy was born in Hue, Vietnam, and came to the United States as a political refugee. The site says he received several awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography. It also says his work has been shown in public collections in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
