Police continue murder manhunt
Police are still hunting an “associate” of a woman charged with the alleged murder of a 35-year-old Vietnamese man in Beechboro at the weekend.
Major crime squad detectives are unsure if the man is still in WA but said he was not a threat to the community.
He is known to Keeah Linda Maureen Sturcke, the 21-year-old Caversham mother charged with killing Cong Trung Nguyen.
Mr Nguyen’s friends have told The West Australian the deceased and Ms Sturcke knew each and were possibly friends.
Mr Nguyen drove his girlfriend’s car to a house he previously rented on King Road in Beechboro sometime after 8pm on Saturday night. It is understood he was to meet Ms Sturcke alone at the address but she brought another man.
Mr Nguyen’s body was found inside the home by a friend about 1pm Sunday. Police want to speak to the other man, but have not issued an arrest warrant.
Minh Van Chung, the owner of the King Road property, said Mr Nguyen returned the key when he and his girlfriend moved out several months ago, but “might have got another one cut”.
Mr Chung was unsure why Mr Nguyen had returned to the property, where there was still a strong forensics presence today.
An only child, Mr Nguyen came to Australia more than a decade ago to live with his uncle. His mother, who lives in Vietnam, has been told her son has died but cannot afford the airfare to attend his funeral.
A friend said Mr Nguyen had previously served jail time for drug offences and “fell in with the wrong crowd” after migrating to Perth.
In an emotional farewell to her “Uncle NCT” on Facebook, a woman who only wished to be known as Miss Trang posted a birthday card Mr Nguyen had given her for her 15th birthday.
“I wish you didn’t have to leave the way you did,” Miss Trang wrote in a message accompanying the card.
“I hope you know how thankful I am to have had met someone like you. Thank you for the times you have looked after me.”
Miss Trang urged others to “cherish and appreciate” the people they love “because life is filled with the unknown and uncertainties”.
