Gruesome video shows a 94-year-old California man being suffocated with a plastic bag in his ritzy hilltop mansion by his son-in-law — who admitted he was “tired of providing” for him, according to authorities.
The chilling surveillance footage allegedly shows Khanh Trong Tran, 71, carrying out the disturbing attack on his elderly father-in-law, Sy Van Nguyen, after initially leading family members to believe that he died of natural causes.
“This is a straight-up, cold malice murder,” Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Juan Valencia told ABC 7.
Sy Van Nguyen was discovered unresponsive at his Santa Rosa home on Aug. 11 by his son-in-law, 71-year-old Khanh Trong Tran, and was later pronounced dead. ABC7 News Bay AreaThe video was discovered by Nguyen’s own grieving son, who had felt that something was off about his father’s death, authorities said.
It shows Tran “grab a plastic bag and a pillow, put it over the victim’s face, suffocating him on camera,” Valencia described.
First responders initially said there were “no signs of trauma or foul play” when they arrived at the swanky Santa Rosa property on Aug. 11.
On Aug. 15, Nguyen’s son provided the video evidence to deputies.
“The room where the elderly victim was had surveillance cameras, the suspect knew the cameras were there,” Valencia said.
The footage allegedly captured Tran “basically grab a plastic bag and a pillow, put it over the victim’s face, suffocating him on camera,” Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Juan Valencia said. ABC7 News Bay AreaThe following day, detectives arrested Tran — who lived on Nguyen’s property — on murder charges.
Tran admitted to killing his father-in-law, telling investigators that he carried out the killing because he was “tired of providing” for him, the sheriff said.
The slaying has since sent shockwaves across the hoity-toity Bay Area community.
Neighbor Rod Burglund said the 94-year-old mostly kept to himself, and he was stunned to learn that Tran — whom he knew as “Ken” — was responsible for the murder. ABC7 News Bay AreaLocal resident Rod Burglund told the outlet that Nguyen had mostly kept to himself, but admitted it was a shock to find out that Tran — whom he knew as “Ken” — was behind the murder.
“There’s got to be alternatives than coming to this,” he told the outlet. “You know most of the people in the neighborhood, Ken was always doing his own thing, a walking acquaintance.
“I made wine from his grapes one year. To me he seemed like an above board kind of guy,” Burglund added.
Tran has been booked into the Sonoma County Jail and is being held without bond.
His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 15.
