A Beloved Oberlin Professor and His Wife Were Found Shot Dead — And Police Say His Son Made a Chilling Admission

It started with a car fire in a college parking lot.

By the end of the morning, police had found a beloved professor and his wife dead.

And police say the man they arrested told officers exactly what had happened.

Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, taught studio art and photography at Oberlin College in Ohio for nearly three decades.

On Wednesday, he and his wife, Tran Thi Phong, 56, were found shot to death inside their home a few blocks from campus.

Now the professor’s 31-year-old son, Daniel Jones, is charged with murder.

A Smoldering Car — and a Strange Discovery

The first call came in just before 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Officers were sent to the Oberlin College Conservatory parking lot, where firefighters were dealing with a smoldering vehicle.

It was a silver Toyota hatchback with Oregon license plates.

According to a police incident report cited by NBC News, the car had a boarded-up window and a pipe sticking out of the roof.

Inside, investigators found a wallet, a passport — and ammunition.

The car was registered to Jones, of Ashland, Oregon.

But Jones wasn’t there.

The Knock at a Stranger’s Door

At 10:19 a.m., an Oberlin resident called police.

There was a “wet disheveled man” at her front door, she reported.

What he allegedly asked her to do next is one of the most chilling details in the case.

Prosecutor Zachary Simonoff said in court that Jones asked the woman to record a video of him to post on the internet.

“He told her that he did not want the police involved,” Simonoff said.

“In the video, he identifies himself as Asia Nguyen-Duy, says he’s escaping a cult,” the prosecutor continued.

“He also says, ‘Everything I did was on my own accord and I take full responsibility.’”

Police took Jones into custody without incident.

He had cuts on his face and injuries to his hand and arm, the prosecutor said.

And then, according to the police report Simonoff read in court, Jones told officers he “killed his family.”

He even gave them his father’s address.

What Officers Found Inside the Home

Police went to the house for a welfare check and forced their way inside.

“Officers went there and found two people dead apparently from gunshot wounds with blood throughout the house,” Simonoff said.

The professor was found on the first floor.

His wife was found on the second.

Both had been shot multiple times, police said.

While officers worked the scene, Oberlin College issued a shelter-in-place order at the request of police.

But one key piece of evidence is still missing.

Police have not found the weapon.

Carried Into Court in Shackles

On Thursday, Jones appeared in Oberlin Municipal Court.

Bailiffs carried him into the courtroom in handcuffs and ankle shackles, ABC News reported.

At the hearing, Jones asked the judge to use gender-neutral pronouns and said they go by the name Asia Nguyen-Duy, according to NBC News.

The charges are staggering:

• Six counts of murder
• Four counts of felonious assault
• One count of tampering with evidence

Jones did not enter a plea.

The prosecutor asked for bail of $1.5 million — and Jones’ court-appointed attorney said she and her client agreed to that amount.

But Judge Farah L. Emeka wasn’t having it.

She set bail at $3 million, “given the egregious nature of the charges.”

The case now heads to a grand jury in Lorain County.

And the biggest question remains unanswered.

Why?

Police say the motive is still under investigation.

But Simonoff told the court that police had spoken with Jones’ mother in Oregon.

She told them her son is psychotic and needs medication, the prosecutor said.

When NBC News reached out, she declined to comment, saying she was too upset.

“Pipo Was Beloved”

On campus, the grief is overwhelming.

Nguyen-Duy was born in Hue, Vietnam, and came to the U.S. in 1975 as a political refugee.

He went on to become an internationally exhibited artist.

His honors included a Guggenheim Fellowship in photography.

He had taught at Oberlin since 1998 and served as chair of studio art, the Guardian reported.

“Pipo was beloved,” Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar said in a statement.

“During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography.”

She called him “a cherished colleague and a vibrant presence in the classroom and throughout campus.”

And she warned that the pain won’t fade quickly.

“Our community will be hurting for a very long time,” Ambar said.

A family torn apart.

And a small college town still trying to understand how it happened.