Oberlin College professor and wife found fatally shot at home; son charged with murder

A beloved Oberlin College professor and his wife were fatally shot in their Ohio home Wednesday, police said. His 31-year-old son has been arrested on murder charges. The body of Pipo Hieu Nguyen-Duy, 64, was found on the first floor of the couple’s home after police conducted a welfare check. His wife, Tran Thi Phong, 56, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom, according to a police incident report. Police said is appears both had been shot. Police identified the suspect as Daniel Jones, of Ashland, Oregon. At an arraignment Thursday, Jones asked the judge to use gender-neutral pronouns and said they go by the name Asia Nguyen-Duy. The investigation began just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, when Oberlin officers responded to the Oberlin College Conservatory parking lot for a report of a smoldering vehicle. The incident report states that the silver Toyota hatchback, which had Oregon license plates, had a boarded-up window and a pipe sticking out of the roof. Nguyen-Duy’s son was identified as the vehicle’s owner, but was not in the area. They were located two blocks away around 10:19 a.m. and taken into custody without incident, police said. Based on officers’ interaction with the son, police conducted a welfare check at the family’s home. Nguyen-Duy and Phong, the son’s stepmother, were located after police forced their way inside, according to the incident report. The son was charged with six counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and one count of tampering with evidence. An attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. A motive is unclear. Asia Nguyen-Duy’s arraignment began with officers carrying them into the courtroom in handcuffs and ankle restraints, NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland reported. The prosecutor said ammunition was found in Asia Nguyen-Duy’s car. The prosecutor also said that Asia Nguyen-Duy had knocked on the door of an Oberlin resident and asked the woman to record a video to post online. In the video, Asia Nguyen-Duy said they were escaping a cult and said, “everything I did was on my own accord and I take full responsibility,” according to the prosecutor. Police were called to the area for a report of a disheveled person and found Asia Nguyen-Duy with scratches on their face and injuries to their arm and hand, the prosecutor said. Asia Nguyen-Duy told police they had killed their family and gave them the address to the family home, according to the prosecutor. The weapon used in the shooting has not been found. The judge set bond at $3 million bond, citing the egregious nature of the crime. Asia Nguyen-Duy’s biological mother declined to comment, saying she was too upset. Oberlin College remembered the elder Nguyen-Duy as a “beloved professor” of studio art and photography, who had taught at the school since 1998. “During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography,” the college’s president Carmen Twillie Ambar said in a statement. She called him “a cherished colleague and a vibrant presence in the classroom and throughout campus.” Nguyen-Duy was born in Hue, Vietnam, and immigrated to the U.S. as a political refugee, according to a biography on his website. He received several awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography, and his work has been exhibited in public collections in the U.S., Europe and Asia, the website states.