Son charged with murder in fatal shooting of Oberlin professor dad, stepmother
The professor was identified as Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Pipo Nguyen-Duy.
A professor at Ohio's Oberlin College and Conservatory and his wife were found fatally shot in an off-campus home, and police said the professor's son was arrested on murder charges connected to the double homicide.
Pipo Nguyen-Duy, a 64-year-old professor at the private liberal arts college and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his 56-year-old wife were found dead in their home on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from the Oberlin Police Department.
In an update on Thursday, police identified Nguyen's wife as Tran Thi Phong, the stepmother of the suspect.
"The male victim was discovered on the first floor of the residence and the female victim was discovered on the second floor. Both victims suffered from multiple gunshot wounds," police said in the statement.
Nguyen's son, Daniel Jones, who a prosecutor said is formerly known as Asia Nguyen-Duy, was ordered to be held in jail on $3 million bail following his initial court appearance on Thursday afternoon.
About 90 minutes before the victims' bodies were discovered on Wednesday, officers were called to the Oberlin College campus to assist firefighters extinguishing a vehicle fire in a parking lot, authorities said.
Officers located the vehicle's registered owner, Jones, at 10:19 a.m. local time, when an Oberlin resident called police to report a "wet disheveled man" at her front door and took him into custody without incident.
During Thursday court hearing, Jones, in handcuffs and ankle shackles, was carried into the courtroom by court bailiffs.
Prosecutor Zachary Simonoff said in court that after showing up at the Oberlin resident's home on Wednesday morning, Jones asked the resident to record a video of him to post on the internet.
"He told her that he did not want the police involved," Simonoff said in court. "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.'"
Reading from a police report, Simonoff said when officers first spoke to Jones, the suspect allegedly told them he "killed his family" and gave the officers his father's address.
"Officers went there and found two people dead apparently from gunshot wounds with blood throughout the house," Simonoff said.
Simonoff said that Jones had cuts to his face and injuries to his hand and arm.
The prosecutor said police have not found the weapon allegedly used in the shooting.
Simonoff said police have been in contact with Jones' mother in Oregon, who told them her son is psychotic and needs medication.
Jones did not enter a plea on Thursday to multiple counts of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
Simonoff asked Oberlin Municipal Court Judge Farah L. Emeka to set bail at $1.5 million, an amount Jones' court-appointed attorney, Jenifer Berki Merril, said she and her client agreed to.
But Emeka said that "given the egregious nature of the charges," she was setting bail at $3 million.
Emeka said the case will be presented to a grand jury in Lorain County Common Pleas Court to vote on an indictment.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar released a statement on Wednesday addressed to students and colleagues that identified Pipo Nguyen-Duy as one of the victims killed in the incident.
Ambar said that police investigated the shooting on Wednesday, the college issued a shelter-in-place order at the request of police.
Pipo Nguyen-Duy had been a professor of studio art and photography at the school since 1998.
"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," Ambar said. "Pipo was beloved. During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography."
Ambar said Nguyen-Duy immigrated from Vietnam in 1975 as a political refugee and "became an internationally exhibited artist, earning many prominent awards -- including the Guggenheim Fellowship."
"Our community will be hurting for a very long time, and when the shock of this news subsides, we will all need to process our grief," Ambar said. "This processing will sometimes be together and sometimes alone, but we will need to take the time to do so."
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