On this day, July 24, in 1986, the former South Vietnamese ambassador to the United States and his wife were beaten and strangled to death at their home in Washington. Tran Van Chuong, 88, was a former South Vietnamese ambassador to the United States, and his wife, Nam Tran Van Chuong, 82, was an observer to the United Nations. Both resigned their positions in 1963 over treatment of Buddhists in their country, but remained in D.C. They were the parents of outspoken first lady of South Vietnam, Madame Nhu.
The day after their deaths in Northwest Washington, police arrested their son, Tran Van Khiem, 60. Prosecutors theorized that Khiem killed his parents to avoid being disinherited.
A D.C. judge ruled that Khiem was mentally unfit to stand trial. He was held at St. Elizabeths Hospital until 1993 when he was deported to France.
-Scott McCabe
