| For Immediate Release Case # 08WF2465
November 13, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FATHER TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ATTEMPTING TO MURDER FAMILY BY TRAPPING THEM IN HOME AND PREPARING TO SET HOUSE ON FIRE
WESTMINSTER – A father will be arraigned tomorrow for trapping his family inside their Garden Grove home with the intention of murdering them by setting the house on fire. Don Nguyen, 69, Garden Grove, is charged with five felony counts of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Nguyen is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled for continued arraignment tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 14, 2008, at 8:30 a.m., in Department W-14, West Justice Center, Westminster.
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 2, 2008, Nguyen’s wife, son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and a 50-year-old male tenant were sleeping inside their Garden Grove home. Nguyen is accused of preparing to set their house on fire with his sleeping family inside. He is accused of barricading his family inside their bedrooms and then dousing the inside of the house with gasoline.
While preparing to set the house on fire, Nguyen’s daughter arrived home with her boyfriend. His daughter noticed that the doors to the bedrooms had been blocked. She attempted to awaken her brother by knocking on the window, but received no response. She left the house and drove to a nearby gas station, where she called her sleeping brother and told him that he was trapped inside the house. His daughter returned to the home and one of the family members called 9-1-1.
Police officers arrived and found Nguyen in a bedroom with a lighter in his pocket.
Deputy District Attorney Dawn Vargas-Kaliban of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.
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