Prosecutors Say Ohio Murder Suspect Confessed on Video

On October 29, Asia Nguyen-Duy appeared in court in Lorain County, Ohio, facing charges in the shooting deaths of Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, and Thi Tran Phong, 56. Prosecutors said the victims were killed inside their home. Pipo Nguyen-Duy was a longtime studio art professor at Oberlin College and an internationally exhibited photographer.

Prosecutors said that after the killings, Nguyen-Duy went to a nearby resident’s home with scratches and blood on their body and asked to be recorded. They said Nguyen-Duy admitted to killing family members and described the act as an effort to escape a cult, while taking responsibility.

Police were alerted on October 28 after finding a smoldering car bearing Nguyen-Duy’s registration in an Oberlin College parking area. It contained loose ammunition and packaging for magazines. Officers found Nguyen-Duy nearby, then went to the victims’ home for a welfare check and discovered both had died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Nguyen-Duy, 31, told the court they are gender-neutral and prefer the name Asia Nguyen-Duy; court records show a legal name change in 2025. They face six murder counts, four allegations of felonious assault and a single charge involving evidence tampering. The judge ordered bond of $3 million, with the case sent to county common pleas court.