A 71-year-old California man has been charged with the murder of his 94-year-old father-in-law, a death that was initial thought to have come from natural causes.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’ Office said that Khanh Trong Tran reported finding Sy Van Nguyen unresponsive on August 11. Fire personnel and deputies responded to the home and pronounced Nguyen dead.
“At that time, there were no signs of trauma or foul play, and his body was released to the family,” the sheriff’s office said.
A few days later, however, “patrol deputies received evidence the death was not natural, but instead an intentional killing,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to KGO, Nguyen’s son asked detectives to take a look at surveillance cameras in the victim’s room.
“What happened was the son felt something didn’t feel right, so he started reviewing the video. As he’s reviewing it, he saw the suspect basically grab a plastic bag and a pillow, put it over the victim’s face suffocating him on camera,” Sgt. Juan Valencia said.
“This is a straight up, cold malice murder,” Valencia added.
As for a motive, Valencia said Tran allegedly told detectives “he was tired of providing for his father-in-law who was 94 years old.”
Tran is being held without bond pending his first court appearance.
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