Trang Van 18 yo girl, Harris County, TX Found stabbed to death in closet

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/cyfair/news/6509521.html
Investigators look into death of teen found in closet
By ALLEN REED Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
July 3, 2009, 10:00PM

Homicide detectives are investigating the death of an 18-year-old whose body was found inside a closet in her family’s northwest Harris County home.

The young woman’s father told authorities he found the body of Trang Van after returning home to the 10100 block of Lazy Lagoon Thursday night.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a home invasion about 8:45 p.m. Deputies met with homeowner Binh Van on arrival who told them he found his daughter’s body. Neighbors said Trang was found shot in a closet.  Neighbors initially reported she was found shot, which is not true.  She was found stabbed in the neck, resulting in her death.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6515771.html
Neighbor Gabriel Garza said Trang, one of three children, moved back in with her family one to two months ago. Garza said he did not know the daughter, but talked with her father a lot.

“We would just talk about family and work — really nice guy,” he said. “They were just good quiet neighbors. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked, but he (Binh) was hysterical.”

Binh was cooperating with investigators, Harris County homicide sergeant Greg Pinkins said.

In November 2005, Binh was charged with a felony for assaulting a family member, according to court records. The day after the charge was filed he was ordered to have no contact with Trang Van. He pleaded guilty to the assault charge and served three years of probation until December 2008. Binh also spent four days in jail on a 1996 assault charge, records show.

Trang’s parents were divorced. Trang’s stepfather, Paul Bui, said the young woman had moved back and forth between her mother and father’s homes recently.

He said she had just graduated from Cy-Fair High School and wanted to go to college to study nursing. He said she sometimes worked on weekends at a nail salon her father owned.

Trang’s uncle, Chi Van, said the death was shocking.

“If you are a mother or a father and something happened to your kid like that you know how you would feel,” he said. “When you get home and see your kid like that, what do you think? You cannot move.”

Edit to correct cause of death.  MB

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6515867.html
Woman in closet of NW Harris home died of stab wound
By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
July 6, 2009, 2:34PM

Homicide has been ruled in the Thursday death of 18-year-old Trang Van, who was found fatally stabbed in a closet at her family’s northwest Harris County home, the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office said today.

Van, a recent Cy-Fair High School graduate who alternatively lived with either of her divorced parents, was stabbed in the neck.

Harris County Sheriff’s officers could not immediately be reached for updates in the case.

The victim’s stepfather, Paul Bui, said the young woman occasionally worked weekends at her father’s nail salon. She planned to enroll in nursing school, he said.

The woman’s father, Binh Van, told authorities he discovered the teen’s body Thursday night after returning to his home in the 10100 block of Lazy Lagoon.

Neighbors initially reported the woman had been shot.

Court records reveal that the girl’s father was charged with a felony after assaulting a family member in November 2005. The day after the charge was filed, he was ordered to have no contact with Trang Van. He pleaded guilty to the offense and was placed on three years’ probation.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6515771.html
ME: Woman in closet died of stab wound to neck
© 2009 The Associated Press
July 6, 2009, 12:34PM
 HOUSTON — An 18-year-old woman whose bloody body was found in a closet of her family's suburban Houston home died of a stab wound to the neck.

That's the finding of the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office in the death Thursday of Trang Van. Spokesman Dan Morgan said Monday that the woman's death has been ruled a homicide.

A statement last week from the Harris County Sheriff's Department said Van's father returned home from work late Thursday to find his daughter's body in the closet of their northwest Harris County home

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7019029.html
Teen's slaying remains a mystery
Investigators taking fresh look at clues in 2009 case

May 24, 2010


Trang Van had knife-type wounds on her body.

Still baffled by a brutal, perhaps tortuous murder of a Houston-area teenager last July, Harris County homicide investigators are circling back in hopes of finding the especially violent killer.

Eighteen-year-old Trang Van was discovered dead in her bedroom closet at her father's upscale northwest Harris County home.

She had knife-type nicks across her neck and other parts of her body, as well as a 4-inch-deep stab wound in her neck, according to autopsy records. Her head and arms were also battered.

“I imagine it was pretty horrific for her, considering the violent nature of the attack,” said Harris County Sheriff's homicide Sgt. Greg Pinkins.

Over the past 10 months, investigators have explored a variety of possibilities regarding who killed her and why. They investigated whether there might be a gang connection in the murder in the 10100 block of Lazy Lagoon, but no evidence of that has surfaced, Pinkins said.

DNA evidence, polygraph tests and interviews have turned up little so far.

Detectives have ruled out the girl's father, who was convicted in 2005 for family assault and sentenced to a three-year probated prison term, according to court records.

Pinkins said Trang's father has been cooperative in the investigation.

Trang's divorced parents, both of traditional Vietnamese culture, had struggled with their daughter, whom they felt was becoming too westernized, Pinkins said. The teen bounced between both homes and had moved in with her father a month or two before the murder.

The sergeant wouldn't discuss specifics, but said investigators now have more pointed questions as they start on the case from the top again.

Crime Stoppers recently increased the reward in the case to up to $10,000. Anyone with information is asked to call 713-222-TIPS.

[Nut44x4]

Man Arrested After Teenager’s Body Found In Closet

October 26, 2012 4:27 PM
A man was arrested after a teenager’s body was found in her closet three years ago. According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, 32-year-old Joseph Michael Payne was charged with capital murder in the death of Trang Michelle Van. HCSO officials released the details of Payne’s arrest Friday in connection with Van’s murder.
 
Payne had already been in custody at the time of  the capital murder charge: “Payne has been in custody at the Harris County Jail since February of this year for unrelated charges including aggravated sexual assault and possession of child pornography,” added the HCSO.
 ::snipping2::

Payne’s  arraignment will be on October 30, 2012 in the 248th Court. The teen’s cause of death was not released at the time of this report.
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/10/26/man-arrested-after-teenagers-body-found-in-closet/

[MuffyBee]

I hope there will be justice for Trang and her family.     Thank you for bringing the update, Nut.

[MuffyBee]

I wondered how the police caught up Trang's murderer.  He talked.  I hope he keeps on talking, because I wonder what else he's done.   

http://www.khou.com/news/local/HCSO--Man-already-jailed-for-sex-assault-child-porn-linked-to-teens-cold-case-murder-176025611.html
HCSO: Man already jailed for sex assault, child porn linked to Cy-Fair teen’s cold case murder
October 27, 2012

HOUSTON—A man already serving time for 10 counts of child pornography and sex assault has been linked to a teen’s brutal murder three years ago, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Division.
Joseph Michael Payne, 32, has been charged with capital murder in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Trang Michelle Van.
 ::snipping2::
Investigators searched for answers and Crime Stoppers offered a hefty reward, but the case went cold.
Investigators said Payne, who had been in jail since February 2012, began to leak information to other inmates. They were also able to link him to Van’s death through an IP address on a computer.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/2014/08/14/suspect-cleared-of-charges-in-2009-cold-case-murder/14075259/
Suspect cleared of charges in 2009 cold case murder
August 14, 2014

HOUSTON—Joseph Michael Payne is no longer charged with capital murder in the death of 18-year-old Trang Michelle Van.

Van was found dead in her home in the 10100 block of Lazy Lagoon on July 2, 2009. Van's family became concerned after she missed a planned meeting with a relative. After the relative called several times and could not reach her, family members went to find out what was wrong. That is when Van's father found her body inside a closet in the house.

Investigators searched for answers and Crime Stoppers offered a hefty reward, but the case went cold.

Payne was charged in 2012 after multiple tips came into Colorado County authorities. Subsequent investigation led to charges, but authorities say as it turns out, Payne himself sent in the anonymous tips. Investigators said Payne implicated himself in the murder hoping that once he was cleared that would clear the child pornography charges against him.

He is still in custody on those charges.