Oberlin College Photography Professor and Wife Found Shot Dead at Home: Son, 31, Charged With Murder and Held on $3 Million Bond
Police in Oberlin, in Lorain County, Ohio, say Oberlin College photography professor Pipo Nguyen-Duy and his wife, Tran Thi Phong, were found dead of gunshot wounds at their home on October 28. Police confirmed the victims were the father and stepmother of the suspect, the professor's 31-year-old son, Daniel Jones, also known as Asia Nguyen-Duy, of Oregon, who has been charged with murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
According to police, officers first responded at about 9 a.m. on October 28 to assist firefighters with a vehicle fire, then tried to locate the vehicle's owner, Jones, to check on his welfare, and took him into custody without incident.
Later that morning, officers performed a welfare check at the couple's home at 33 South Pleasant Street and found both of them dead of gunshot wounds. Police have not released a motive, and the weapon has not been publicly accounted for.
A court set Jones's bond at $3 million. He is being held in the Lorain County jail, and the case will go before a county grand jury. Prosecutors told the court Jones had made statements admitting the killings to police; the charges remain allegations to be tested in court, and he is presumed innocent unless convicted.
Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, chaired the studio art department at Oberlin College and was an acclaimed fine art photographer. He came to the United States from Vietnam as a political refugee in 1975, spent time in the 1980s as a Buddhist monk, and then began his career in art and photography. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2011, an American Photography Institute national graduate fellowship and three Individual Artist Fellowship grants from the Ohio Arts Council, and had repeatedly postponed retirement out of commitment to his students.
His wife, Tran Thi Phong, was 56. Oberlin College has created a memorial page where well-wishers can share words and memories of Nguyen-Duy.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Oberlin College 的 Allen 纪念艺术博物馆（资料图），遇害的 Pipo Nguyen-Duy 生前在该校任工作室艺术系主任。照片：Daderot，公有领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College (file photo). Photo by Daderot, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
