Mother dies months after ‘inheritance’ killing, police say
SAN JOSE » A woman has died three months after a shooting that also killed her husband, allegedly at the hands of their son who investigators say was trying to get early access to his inheritance, according to San Jose police.
Kim Lan Ly, 68, of San Jose died Friday at a local hospital from injuries she suffered in a May 20 shooting at her home in the Spanish Cove Mobile Home Park. Her husband, 70-year-old Thao Quoc Luu, was also shot and died that day.
Duong Jimmy Trung Luu, 25, the victims’ son, and his roommate and alleged accomplice Madison Muong, 27, were arrested and charged with murder in Thao Luu’s killing. They are each expected to be charged with another murder count now that Ly has died.
Officers were called to the couple’s home for reports of a shooting and found Ly on a couch in a front room suffering from a gunshot wound to her face, police said. Her husband was found in a rear bedroom dead from a gunshot wound to his chest. Each of the parents had been shot once, and two 9 mm shell casings were recovered by investigators.
The shooting was initially thought to be a possible murder-suicide, but San Jose homicide detectives said the ensuing investigation led to a mutual acquaintance of the two suspects who told them Luu and Muong “separately confessed … that they killed Jimmy Luu’s parents.”
The acquaintance also stated that each of the suspects independently offered details about the crime that only someone involved would know, police said in a statement included in the court file.
“Jimmy Luu and Madison Muong also told the associate that the motive behind the crime was financial,” the statement reads. “They hatched a plan to murder Jimmy Luu’s parents in order to collect and split his inheritance.”
The two were arrested May 22 by police serving a search warrant at their apartment. Investigators say they recovered a handgun believed to have been used in the shooting, along with clothing and other evidence tying the pair to the crime.
Both defendants are being held without bail in the Santa Clara County Main Jail.
Ly’s death becomes the 17th homicide of the year in San Jose. There were 19 homicides recorded at the same point in 2017.
Anyone with information about the case can contact SJPD homicide Detective Sgt. John Barg or Detective Raul Corral at 408-277-5283 or Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP or at svcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.