Police Seek Pair Seen Leaving the Home of Two Slain O.C. Women

Westminster police said Monday they were looking for two people they believed were the last to see a fortuneteller and her daughter alive.

Neighbors told detectives they saw a man and a woman leave the home of Ha Jade Smith, 52, and Anita Nhi Vo, 23, the morning of April 21, said Lt. Bill Lewis, a spokesman for the department.

The bodies were discovered the following night with multiple stab wounds. The house had been ransacked.

Investigators believe the motive for the slayings was robbery.

“What we do know is that someone was looking for something in that home,” Lewis said. “We don’t know at this point what it was.”

The police released sketches of the two, who Lewis said were wanted for questioning but were not considered suspects.

Neighbors said they saw them drive away in a dark gray or blue late-model Toyota Camry or Honda after leaving Smith’s house at 11:15 a.m. April 21.

The woman, according to police, is an Asian in her early 30s with light skin, a medium build and shoulder-length black hair.

The man was described as an Asian in his early 30s, about 5 feet 6, with black hair, weighing 160 to 170 pounds.

Detectives believe the killings occurred April 21, Lewis said. The bodies were discovered the night of April 22 by Vo’s former boyfriend, Dung Nguyen.

Investigators suspect that the victims knew their attackers.

“This was a well-fortified home that showed no sign of forced entry,” Lewis said.

“Whoever was at the home was either expected or known to [Smith] in some other way.”

He said no large items, such as televisions, appeared to be missing. The suspects may have been searching for jewelry or cash, Lewis said.

The slayings were the third time the victims were targeted.

Smith’s home was burglarized in February 2001, and she was robbed there the next month. Jewelry was taken in each incident.

Detectives have not ruled out that the killings were related to Smith’s fortunetelling business, which she ran out of her home.

Known in the local community as Miss Ha, Smith had clients from Vietnamese enclaves all over the country, Lewis said.

Memorial services for Smith and Vo, a student at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, were held Monday.

The victims’ family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.