Tanya Nelson

People

• Tanya Jaime Nelson (46) — defendant; of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina; sentenced to death on April 23, 2010.
• Phillipe Zamora (55) — co-defendant; of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina; pleaded guilty to two felony counts of first degree murder; sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.
• Ha “Jade” Smith (52) — victim; a fortune teller in Westminster.
• Anita Nhi Vo (23) — victim; college student; victim of stabbing alongside Ha “Jade” Smith.
• Nicky Phan — sister of Ha “Jade” Smith; of Vancouver, Canada.
• Huong Kempf — sister of Ha “Jade” Smith; of St. Louis, Missouri.
• Loan Ngo — sister of Ha “Jade” Smith; whispered “Thank God” after a preliminary hearing ruling.
• Deputy District Attorney Sonia Balleste — prosecutor.
• Defense attorney Ken Reed — attorney for Nelson.
• Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel — scheduled penalty hearing to begin Tuesday; presided over penalty-related scheduling.
• Superior Court Judge Glenda Sanders — ruled after a two-day preliminary hearing.
• Detective Tim Vu — detective quoted about the white paint.
• Matt Coker — named in the case material as the author of an OCWeekly.com piece.
• Larry Welborn — named in the case material as the author of The Orange County Register pieces.
• Jennifer Muir — named in the case material as the author of The Orange County Register piece.

Timeline

• April 21, 2005 — Nelson went to Smith’s home with Zamora under the pretense of visiting and having Nelson’s fortune told; Nelson formulated a plan to murder Smith and Vo to rob the victim; Nelson stabbed and murdered Vo as Zamora stabbed and murdered Smith; they attempted to wash bloody kitchen knives and wrapped them in plastic bags; Nelson ransacked the victims’ home and stole personal items including cell phones, purses, jewelry, and credit cards; Nelson then drove with Zamora to Walmart to purchase paint, returned to the victims’ home, and poured white paint on Smith and Vo’s heads and hands; Zamora covered Vo’s face with a black shirt.
• April 22, 2005 — Westminster Police Department received a call from a concerned friend who had not heard from Vo and asked that she be checked on; police discovered the scene with both women dead; Nelson later returned to Orange County in May 2005 for a South Coast Plaza shopping spree after purchasing plane tickets with the victims’ credit cards.
• May 30 (2005) — Westminster police detectives arrested Nelson at the Santa Ana Holiday Inn; she had the victims’ stolen credit cards, identification cards and designer luggage in her possession.
• June 1, 2005 — Zamora was arrested at his North Carolina home.
• April 13, 2006 — a judge ordered the pair to face all charges filed against them at a preliminary hearing.
• January 13, 2010 — opening statements were scheduled in a death penalty trial for Nelson.
• February 16, 2010 — a jury found Nelson guilty of two felony counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances; Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel scheduled a penalty hearing to begin Tuesday.
• April 14 (2010) — Zamora pleaded guilty to two felony counts of first degree murder.
• April 23, 2010 — Nelson received the death penalty.
• March 26 — Nelson’s formal sentencing was scheduled for March 26.
• later in the year — Zamora was expected to be sentenced to 50 years to life in prison later in the year.

Background

Nelson lived in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Ha “Jade” Smith lived at her Little Saigon home in Westminster and was known as a fortune teller. Most clients would have gone to Smith’s home and paid up to $15,000 for her services in cash. Police discovered Smith’s home had been ransacked, with drawers turned out, furniture tipped over, and papers scattered throughout the location; hidden stockpiles of money and jewelry were undiscovered and untouched. Smith had been victimized before, having been tied up and robbed of $372,000 in jewelry and money in 2001; she had changed the locks and placed iron bars over the windows of her home. Police investigating the murder scene saw no signs of forced entry; the bars were in place and all the doors were locked, indicating the killer(s) knew the victims, allowing them inside.

Detective Tim Vu said: "I haven't come across anybody else who has had a case in which the victim's heads and hands were covered in paint,"
"I've had calls from colleagues in other departments, too. They feel kind of fascinated by that. It's just not something that happens. . . . This is by far the most bizarre thing I've seen."

Criminologist discussion included theories about the significance of white paint, including that “White is traditionally worn at Vietnamese funerals, the color is symbolic of mourning and rites of passage,” and that actors in traditional Vietnamese theater painted their faces white for performances. Another possibility described was that “Another possibility could be that the paint is simply a red-herring; implying a cultural significance to what essentially could be a straight forward murder-robbery.”

The offence

Ha “Jade” Smith (52) and her daughter, Anita Nhi Vo (23), were found dead in Smith’s Westminster home. They died of multiple stab wounds to their faces and necks, with cuts on their hands suggesting they had attempted to resist attacks. Nearly a gallon of white paint had been poured over their heads and hands. Smith’s body was found in a pool of blood and soaked in white paint inside the home used in her fortune-telling business. Vo’s body was found about ten feet away, also covered in white paint. Both women had been stabbed multiple times.

Nelson and Zamora attempted to wash bloody kitchen knives and wrapped them in plastic bags. They ransacked the victims’ home and stole personal items including cell phones, purses, jewelry, and credit cards. Nelson bought paint at Wal-Mart and poured white paint on Smith and Vo’s heads and hands, and Zamora covered Vo’s face with a black shirt.

Investigation

Westminster detectives arrested Nelson at the Santa Ana Holiday Inn on May 30 after following up on leads that revealed she flew to Orange County for a fortune-telling appointment with Smith on the day of the slayings and that she was using credit-cards stolen from the murder victims. Detectives also found a day planner in her North Carolina home with two words handwritten in the box for April 21, 2005: “Horrible sin.”

Zamora was arrested June 1, 2005, at his North Carolina home.

Arrest

Nelson was arrested about five weeks later after Westminster detectives followed up on leads; police arrested her at the Santa Ana Holiday Inn. Nelson had the victims’ stolen credit cards, identification cards and designer luggage in her possession at the time of her arrest. Zamora was arrested June 1 at his North Carolina home.

Trial

On February 16, 2010, a seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated for about a day before finding Nelson guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the stabbing deaths of Ha “Jade” Smith and Anita Vo, plus several special circumstances that could lead to a death sentence. The special circumstances included the murder of multiple victims, murder by lying in wait, and murder during the commission of robbery. A Superior Court Judge Frank F.

Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel also scheduled a penalty hearing to begin Tuesday. If the same jury recommended that Nelson be executed for the double murders, she would become only the second woman to get the death penalty in Orange County history.

Sentencing

Nelson’s jury recommended death. Nelson received the death penalty on April 23, 2010.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office released a statement at sentencing that included a recounting of what Smith’s older sister, and Vo’s aunt, told the court. The older sister and Vo’s aunt said: “No amount of time will ever heal the pain nor erase the memory of the ingrained and horrific images, nor the silence the gut-wrenching testimony that has been exhibited and addressed in this court,” “Justice has been served.”

Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel scheduled a penalty hearing to begin Tuesday. Nelson’s formal sentencing was scheduled for March 26.

Co-defendant outcome

Zamora pleaded guilty April 14 to two felony counts of first degree murder. He was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison. Zamora was expected to be sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison later in the year. Zamora also agreed to cooperate with authorities in the prosecution of Nelson.

Appeals

No appeal information was stated.

Outcome

Nelson was sentenced to death on April 23, 2010.

Other details

• At the preliminary hearing, Judge Glenda Sanders ruled after a two-day preliminary hearing; Loan Ngo whispered, “Thank God.”
• The case material described prosecution contentions that Nelson targeted the victims because her fortune did not come true.
• Zamora testified through a Vietnamese interpreter and told the jury that he joined Nelson on the murderous mission after Nelson promised to introduce him to potential gay sex partners in Orange County.
• Zamora testified that he was present in Smith’s home on April 21, 2005, when Nelson began stabbing Anita Vo, prompting Smith to scream. Zamora testified that he panicked when Nelson yelled at him, “Kill her! Kill her! Don't let her scream!”
• Zamora testified that he picked up a wine bottle and hit Smith in the shoulder to silence her before he wrestled her to the ground and stabbed her repeatedly with two knives. Zamora said: “It happened so quickly,” “I didn't know what to do ... I didn't want her to scream.”
• Zamora testified that Nelson told him on the return flight to North Carolina that Smith was targeted for death because she gave Nelson a fortune that did not come true.
• Defense attorney Ken Reed argued that Zamora made up the story to implicate Nelson and escape a death penalty prosecution, and Reed argued that Zamora was the sole killer and that Nelson was not present when the two victims were slashed to death.
• Westminster police detectives found a receipt for a flight for Zamora to Orange County around the time of the slaying during a search of Nelson’s home.
• The bodies were discovered the next day after a friend phoned police after she became alarmed when he did not hear from Vo.
• Nelson was accused with special circumstances that could lead to a death sentence, including that she committed multiple murders, that she murdered for financial gain, during the commission of a burglary, during the commission of robbery, and by lying in wait.
• The case material also referenced a prior Orange County death penalty case: Maria del Rosio “Rosie” Alfaro, who received the death penalty in 1992 for stabbing 9-year-old Autumn Wallace multiple times during a home-invasion robbery two years earlier to get money to buy drugs. Alfaro was described as 38 and remained on Death Row.