94-year-old’s death thought to be natural, CA cops say. Video showed it wasn’t
A man has been arrested in the death of his father-in-law that was initially thought to be of natural causes, California deputies said.
Khanh Trong Tran, 71, of Santa Rosa, was arrested on a murder charge in the death of Sy Van Nguyen, 94, on Saturday, Aug. 16, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Attorney information for Tran was not immediately available.
Tran called 911 on Monday, Aug. 11, and said Nguyen was unresponsive, according to deputies.
Deputies said they and the Sonoma County Fire District arrived at the Santa Rosa home, where “Nguyen was pronounced dead.”
With “no signs of trauma or foul play,” deputies said Nguyen’s body was released to his family.
Then, days later, deputies said they were given evidence that showed Nguyen’s “death was not natural, but instead an intentional killing.”
Sgt. Juan Valencia told KGO-TV that the room where Nguyen was had surveillance cameras, and when Nguyen’s son felt something was off, he took a look at the video.
“It captured the entire thing,” Valencia told The Press Democrat.
On the video footage, Nguyen’s son saw someone “basically grab a plastic bag and a pillow, put it over the victim’s face, suffocating him on camera,” Valencia told KGO-TV.
Through an investigation, Tran was identified as a suspect and a warrant for his arrest was issued, deputies said.
Detectives also got a search warrant for the property where Tran and Nguyen lived in separate dwellings, “but Tran was not home,” deputies said.
Deputies said they found Tran inside a car about 5 miles from his home just after 4 a.m. Aug. 16 following an extensive search.
According to detectives, Tran killed Nguyen because he saw him as a “financial burden and no longer wanted to provide the intensive care Nguyen required,” Valencia told The Press Democrat.
“This is a straight up, cold malice murder,” Valencia told KGO-TV.
A criminal complaint against Tran was filed Aug. 18 and includes charges of murder and personally using a deadly weapon, court records show.
Tran is being held without bail and was scheduled to appear in court Aug. 19, jail records show.
Santa Rosa is about a 55-mile drive north from San Francisco.
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM.
