Police officers examine the scene at Kinloch Crescent in Bruce in October 2023. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains distressing content and refers to family violence and suicide.
In the lead-up to murdering his wife at their north Canberra home, a man said that if he did not control himself, he would kill her.
One year after this warning, Van Thanh Vu stabbed 65-year-old Thi Thuy Huong Nguyen to death at their home in Kinloch Crescent, Bruce, on 23 October 2023.
“Her murder was violent and horrific,” prosecutor Trent Hickey told the ACT Supreme Court on Friday (6 February).
The court heard the pair went to Westfield Belconnen to go shopping before returning home separately on the morning of the murder.
That afternoon, Ms Nguyen may have been eating or cooking 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.
“We don’t know what brought on that frenzied rage,” Mr Hickey said.
“Ms Nguyen was helpless and unarmed.”
Afterwards, Vu apparently tried to take his own life. Their daughter arrived at the home, discovered the scene, and called Triple Zero.
Vu survived and 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.
The 74-year-old used a walking frame to enter the courtroom for his sentencing hearing on Friday.
Mr Hickey argued Vu’s motive was malice brought about by his loss of temper and noted the murderer had violently assaulted Ms Nguyen several years before her death, which resulted in injuries to her face.
“He absolutely had the animosity and the anger towards his wife,” he said.
During a conversation between the prosecutor and forensic psychiatrist Dr Adam Martin, the court heard Vu complained to the latter about “his perceived grievances with Ms Nguyen”.
The court heard he held longstanding animosity towards Ms Nguyen due to the perceptions he had about her alleged behaviour. However, prosecutors did not accept that there had been any provocation by her.
“It is clear that he had a perception … that he was treated badly by the deceased,” his barrister, Dr Kylie Weston-Scheuber, said.
Van Thanh Vu, 74, pleaded guilty to murder before facing the Supreme Court for his sentencing hearing. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
About a year before her murder, he told a friend something like, “If I don’t control myself, I will kill her and then try to kill myself”.
Dr Martin said Vu described feeling “blank”, “so dizzy” and “said yes to everything” in the weeks before the stabbing.
He thought Vu had mild neurocognitive and depressive disorders, which contributed to his capacity to control his actions.
Forensic psychiatrist Associate Professor Andrew Carroll thought the murder was not premeditated but was “born out of rage in the moment”.
“The autopsy evidence is consistent with an attack that happened in a state of frenzied rage,” he said.
Dr Weston-Scheuber said Justice Belinda Baker would find there had been an argument between Vu and Ms Nguyen before the stabbing, although the court did not know the context of that argument.
She said the fact that they were in the kitchen, and he used a kitchen knife to stab Ms Nguyen, was consistent with the proposition that the murder had been a spontaneous outburst of violence.
She said her client was born in Vietnam, spoke little English, was an Australian citizen and his marriage to Ms Nguyen had been one of convenience.
Under questioning from the barrister, geriatrician Dr John Obeid said Vu had heart disease, suffered from possible early dementia and likely had prostate cancer.
The doctor said that due to this possible cancer diagnosis, Vu’s life expectancy was around four years, as he did not want to seek treatment, although this could be extended if he did undergo treatment.
Dr Weston-Scheuber asked Justice Baker to impose a sentence that contained “some hope” for him to be released from custody before his death.
The judge has reserved her judgment and will hand it down on a date to be set. Vu remains in custody.
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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