Experts examine the scene of the murder at Kinloch Crescent in Bruce in October 2023. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to family violence and suicide.
A grandfather repeatedly warned his friend he would stab his ex-wife before he followed up on this threat and did so nine times in a frenzied attack that killed her at their Canberra home.
Newly obtained documents shed light on the tragic case of 65-year-old Thi Thuy Huong Nguyen, who was murdered by her ex-husband, Van Thanh Vu.
The documents were released after the now-74-year-old faced the ACT Supreme Court for his sentencing hearing last week.
Ms Nguyen divorced Vu before moving to Australia in 1991 to be with her daughter. He followed her in 2014, moving from Vietnam to Canberra, and they briefly remarried for immigration purposes before divorcing again.
Despite their separation, they continued to live in a house in Bruce, although they slept in separate bedrooms. The documents say they argued a lot.
“She provoked me many times … If I don’t control myself, I’ll kill her,” he told a friend.
A few times, he told his friend, “If she kept it up the way she did one day, if I couldn’t contain myself … then I’ll stab her.”
“Don’t push me to the corner, like a dog. If you keep pushing it, it will jump at you and bite you. If you keep pushing me, one day I’ll kill you and then kill myself because I don’t want to go to prison,” he said he had told Ms Nguyen.
The friend told him to go for a walk, talk to her or see a psychologist. She told him to move in with her or another friend, and they spoke about him applying for social housing, which he did in May 2023.
The court already heard that he held longstanding animosity towards Ms Nguyen due to perceptions of her alleged behaviour. However, prosecutors did not accept that there had been any provocation by her.
On the morning of 23 October 2023, Vu and Ms Nguyen caught the bus to Westfield Belconnen before they returned home separately by 11 am.
Sometime later, they were in the kitchen when Vu grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her five times in the head and neck, as well as nine times in the torso, including to her brain and heart.
She was later found with defensive wounds to her hands.
After stabbing her, Vu apparently tried to take his own life. Their daughter arrived at the home around 5:30 pm and found her mother dead on the floor.
Police and paramedics arrived to find two blood-covered kitchen knives on the kitchen bench. Vu was found in his bedroom and said, “I want to die”, while he was being driven to hospital.
He spoke to a psychiatrist later that month, telling her he had been very angry when arguing with Ms Nguyen about money.
He later claimed to the psychiatrist that his ex-wife had been verbally abusive to him, although she hadn’t been violent or threatening.
Vu originally wanted to fight the accusations against him, but eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of murder in the week he had been scheduled to face a trial.
He has remained in custody for more than two years.
Justice Belinda Baker will hand down her sentence on a date to be set.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
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