Two people were found dead Tuesday at the University of California in Irvine in what police are dubbing a murder-suicide.
Investigators state that Thao Thai Nguyen, 77, was thrown to her death from the top of a multi-story Social Science building on campus by her son Andrew Nguyen Doan, 36, a former UC Irvine student who later plunged to his own death, according to a police report.
Former UC Irvine student threw mom off campus balcony before committing suicide: police https://t.co/YIdkZWqAbu pic.twitter.com/KqYyxjiEWm
— New York Post (@nypost) December 16, 2022
Police arrived at the campus just before 4:00 p.m. after receiving numerous calls about the incident. Police arrived to find the bodies of Doan and Nguyen, the report stated. At the time, evidence pointed to a murder-suicide. The names of the victims were not released until after next of kin had been notified. (RELATED: Four Relatives Killed In Suspected Murder-Suicide)
Doan studied biological sciences at the university from September 2017 to June 2019, but didn’t graduate, Tom Vasich, a UCI spokesman stated, according to Fox News. The Irvine Police Department had multiple contacts with Doan in the past for mental health concerns, but had not received any complaints since 2019 when he was admitted to a mental institution, the New York Post reported.
While at the institution, an Orange County district attorney’s office spokesperson said Doan sexually battered his roommate, according to the New York Post. Nguyen reportedly posted his $100,000 bail in the wake of Doan’s arrest before he was sentenced to 156 days in jail and three years of probation — a sentence that ended in July.
Doan lived with his mother in Irvine but neighbor Michael Bertin told the Post-Telegram he could not remember the last time he had seen Doan whom he called “a troubled young man.” Nguyen, whom Bertin remembered as “Theresa,” was “kind” and often seen gardening in her yard.
“[Doan] had demons,” Bertin said. “It’s a horrible thing.”
“At such a time, our primary thoughts are with the victims and their families,” UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman stated, according to Fox News. Gilliam added that the university was “fully cooperating” with the investigation as police try to determine a motive for the murder-suicide.