NC Woman Guilty Of Killing California Fortuneteller
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Updated: 10:00 PM Feb 16, 2010
NC Woman Guilty Of Killing California Fortuneteller
An Orange County jury has found a North Carolina woman guilty of murdering a fortuneteller and her daughter.
Posted: 9:52 PM Feb 16, 2010
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A California jury found a North Carolina woman guilty Tuesday of murdering a Vietnamese fortuneteller and her college-age daughter after the mind reader told her to get over a lost lover.

The Superior Court jury deliberated for about a day before convicting Tanya Nelson, 45, of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., of masterminding the murders of fortuneteller Ha "Jade" Smith, 52, and Anita Vo, 23, five years ago.

Nelson hired Smith, a popular fortuneteller in the Vietnamese community, to get her ex-lover back. But when the soothsayer told her to accept reality, she became upset and plotted to drive across the country to kill her, Orange County prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Smith and her daughter were stabbed as many as 10 times and their faces and hands were covered in white paint, which may have been an attempt to cover up evidence.

Nelson lured her accomplice, Phillipe Zamora, 55, into the murder scheme by promising to fix him up with gay sex partners.

Zamora, who was a key witness against Nelson, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of first-degree murder and faces 50 years to life in prison when he is sentenced next week.

Nelson, who also uses the name Phuong Thao Nguyen and used to live in Orange County, was also convicted of robbery for stealing Smith's expensive jewelry and assuming her identity after the killings to buy $3,000 in clothing and plane tickets for a family vacation in Southern California.

She traveled from North Carolina to Westminster intending to murder Smith, returned home and was arrested when she returned to Orange County on a family vacation. When she was arrested, she had Smith's stolen credit cards, identification cards and designer luggage.

Smith, known as Miss Ha in the local Vietnamese community, did card and palm readings and had clients across the country. She was famous among Vietnamese-Americans for wearing expensive jewelry and was considered a skilled fortuneteller.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.


Latest Comments

Posted by: me Location: greenville on Feb 17, 2010 at 12:21 AM

These comments are sad. Two women were brutally murdered because they gave commonsense advice to a person who obviously needs psychiatric care. I think that these psychics are bogus but that doesn't mean they deserved what happened to them. And yes Jethro, this is a crime in Vietnam. I don't know about Vietnam but in China the criminals execution would be televised on the news for all to see. So these crimes don't happen that often there. It's seems a bit crude and insensitive to us, but so is murder.
Posted by: pete Location: grifton on Feb 16, 2010 at 11:11 PM

She should have seen it coming.
Posted by: pete Location: grifton on Feb 16, 2010 at 11:10 PM

She should have seen it coming.
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