Slaying of Four Vietnamese in Costa Mesa Puzzles Authorities

The murders of a pregnant Vietnamese woman, her two young children and a 30-year-old man have mystified neighbors, horrified the local Vietnamese community and stumped police, who said Thursday they have no motive or suspects.

“We have not ruled out murder-suicide,” said Costa Mesa Police Capt. Thomas Lazar, who added that the killings do not appear to be the work of gangs or robbers. “We need to go through all the evidence and analyze it.”

Police answered a call Wednesday evening from a man who had arrived to help the family move out of their apartment. Getting no answer to his shouts, the man peered in a broken window and saw the legs of the woman, who was lying on the floor of the two-bedroom apartment, located in an ethnically diverse, lower-middle-class section of Costa Mesa.

Inside, police found no evidence of a struggle. Nothing appeared to have been taken, and the apartment, though mostly bare of furniture, was not in disarray.

“There was nothing to show that there was a struggle,” Lazar said. “Normally, you would see ransacking.”

The bodies of the two children were discovered on the floor in their bedroom, the beds already removed. The two adults were lying in the living room.

Killed were Hanh Thi Duong, 25; her son, Thang Quoc Nguyen, 7, and her daughter, Lan Ngoc Nguyen, 4. The fourth victim, Oanh Van Le, 30, of Westminster, was identified by police as a friend of the woman. The four died of gunshot wounds, probably fired late Wednesday afternoon or early that evening, authorities said.

The children’s father does not appear to be a suspect in the crime, as police believe he is either dead or in Vietnam. “We don’t believe him to be in the area,” Lazar said.

Police would not say how many times the victims were shot, whether the murder weapon had been found or how the assailant had entered the apartment, or give other details of the crime.

The bodies of all four victims were removed from the apartment at 11 a.m. Thursday and taken to the coroner’s office, where autopsies were being performed. Results are expected today, officials said.

The murders horrified the local Vietnamese community, and local leaders groped for a theory that could explain them.

“Most of the people think it’s either love or money,” said Mai Cong, chairman of the Vietnamese Community of Orange County, a social service agency. “But one thing that no one has any explanation is why they killed two children. That puzzles everyone. How could that happen?”

“I don’t remember any similar case where they shoot the whole family,” Cong said. “It’s really upset people.”

Because all four victims were Vietnamese, early speculation focused on whether the crimes were an example of “home invasion” robberies, in which bandits typically break into homes in Asian neighborhoods, tie up and sometimes beat or threaten their victims.

Neighbors said there had been several such robberies in the area recently, as well as other break-ins, street crimes and car thefts. But the fact that nothing appeared to be missing and no struggle appeared to have occurred squelched that theory, police said.

Neighbors were not able to provide many details about the family, saying that the young mother, who police said was in her first trimester of pregnancy, spoke little English and kept mostly to herself. And though several neighbors said they heard a commotion--pounding on walls and running foot steps--late Wednesday afternoon, none of those interviewed saw the crime committed.

Even those who heard suspicious sounds said a recent increase in area street crime had made them reluctant to get involved.

“I heard something around there and didn’t pay much attention, but I dared not to go out,” said Chau Vo, who has lived around the corner for the past three weeks. “I didn’t pay much attention, but I was scared.”

Although the mother was not well known by her neighbors, 7-year-old Thang, who was born in Vietnam and had just started school here last year, had already struck up friendships at Killybrooke Elementary School.

“I just feel so horrible,” said Thang’s teacher, who asked not to be named. “He was such a sweet little boy, very cooperative, a nice little student.”

Times staff writers Jim Gomez and Eric Lichtblau contributed to this report.