Immigrant Kills Wife, Self; Injured Girl Is Hospitalized

A down-on-his-luck Laotian immigrant who felt disgraced by his daughter’s failed marriage plans hacked his wife to death, sliced off a younger daughter’s hand and killed himself by plunging the knife into his chest.

Ten-year-old Yang Vue, found lying in her front yard by a postal worker, was listed in serious condition Friday after surgeons reattached her right hand. Doctors said she will probably not regain full use of the hand.

Found dead inside the home Thursday in this city 75 miles northwest of Milwaukee were Song Chou Vang, 60, and his wife, Song Lee, 54. A 15- to 16-inch knife was used in the attack, police said.

The couple were unemployed and had been arguing all day over money and their 17-year-old daughter, who had returned home two weeks ago after living with her boyfriend for about a month, police said.

The parents believed that the two planned to get married, and the father was disgraced when his daughter returned home, relatives said.

In the Laotian culture, a bride can be returned to the family if the husband feels she is lazy, said Long Xiong, a police interpreter.

The 17-year-old daughter, Ying Vang, apparently was not home during the attack.

The father was depressed by “kids doing things not typical of Hmong culture,” relative Mai Lot said.

The 10-year-old girl was apparently attacked while trying to retrieve her shoes to flee, Capt. Robert Cavanaugh said. She also suffered a deep, ear-to-ear gash across her nose and the center of her face.

Two other children were in the house during the attack: Kao Vue, 13, and Ger Vue, 9. They fled through the back door.

Officials said seven children are in the family. Two older daughters are married, living away from home. The other children lived at home.

The couple’s 17-year-old son Pao Vang told the Post-Crescent of Appleton through an interpreter that he left home Wednesday night, fearing something might happen. He said his father accused his wife of not raising the children properly.

Wisconsin has about 40,000 Hmong and Laotians who followed the migration of Southeast Asian refugees to the United States after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, said Sue Levy, refugee coordinator for the state Health and Social Services Department.

Outagamie County, which includes Appleton, has about 3,000 Southeast Asians.