Laguna Niguel Newcomer’s Fiery Death Called Suicide

The Orange County coroner’s office confirmed Thursday that Tho Cong Huynh, 45, died in a car fire that he started in the garage of his new Laguna Niguel home two days ago.

Firefighters found Huynh’s charred body sitting in the front seat of his 1986 Toyota Camry on Wednesday morning about 11:45. The car had apparently exploded into flames while it was parked in the garage of Huynh’s Nugget Falls Lane home, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

The coroner’s office listed the death as a suicide by self-immolation.

Huynh, a Vietnamese-born real estate broker who was described as a quiet, unassuming man, had bought the brand-new, three-bedroom tract home two months ago in the new Laguna Niguel subdivision with his wife and teen-age son.

However, Huynh’s former employer, Jerry Wallin of Century 21 Emery on Aliso Creek Road, said Huynh abruptly quit his job last week.

“He told me, ‘I have to leave. I have a disease,’ ” Wallin said. “Then he said he was going to move to San Jose.” He did not, however, put the house up for sale, Wallin said.

Wallin said Huynh had transferred to the office less than a month ago from the Neighborhood Emporium, a real estate office in Fountain Valley.

“He was highly recommended,” Wallin said.

Wallin said he was surprised that Huynh quit so soon after he came to the busy office. Wallin said Huynh had even paid $500 to join the Saddleback Valley Board of Realtors. “He just moved here,” Wallin said. “He seemed like he was going to stay.”

Neighbors said they knew little of Huynh and his family. Many of them are also newcomers to the 4-month-old neighborhood.

The death, which came so soon after residents began moving into the block of $250,000 homes, shook many neighbors, who first learned about the car fire when they were blocked from driving into the street by sheriff’s investigators Monday afternoon.

“It’s incredible,” said Barbara Kelly, who moved into the neighborhood three weeks ago from Cerritos. “I don’t understand how it could happen.”

A construction worker driving past the house first noticed smoke pouring out of the closed garage door Monday. Some witnesses reported hearing an explosion before the car caught fire, but Sheriff’s Department spokesmen gave no details of how the fire started.

The car was destroyed and the garage sustained slight smoke damage, officials said.