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Editor’s Note: Just two weeks “out of the gate” with our Premiere Issue, we were faced with a major decision as to the appropriateness of running the following article in this issue. After reading the book, WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER, by Lois Duncan, the decision was made. Later, while speaking to Lois by phone, we told her that our hope in running this piece was that it might produce a few more leads – a few more pieces of the puzzle.
For numerous reasons, we have left out the SSNs and DOBs for each of the players. We ask that you run what information appears in this article through your in-house computers, paying special attention to accidents occurring in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and New Mexico. If you find any potential matches, please contact Attorney Michael Bush to confirm additional information. All names and addresses that have been listed herein are gleaned from police reports and other public documents.
DID INSURANCE FRAUD LEAD TO MURDER? WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER?
On July 16, 1989, Kaitlyn Arquette, 18, of Albuquerque left the apartment she shared with her Vietnamese boyfriend, DUNG NGOC NGUYEN, to go to dinner at a friend’s house. En route, she stopped by her parents’ house, appearing very agitated, and told them she was breaking up with Dung, and if he called trying to find her, not to tell him where she was.
During the evening, Kait confided to her girlfriend that Dung Nguyen and his associates were involved in large scale, interstate insurance fraud. She seemed frantic to know where Dung was and had her friend keep calling their apartment to see if he answered. He never did so.
Kait left her friend’s home at 10:45 p.m., heading for her parent’s house. Within minutes, she was chased down in her car and shot to death.
The family’s quest for the truth about Kait’s murder is detailed in the book, “Who Killed My Daughter?,” by her mother, Lois Duncan (available in paperback from Dell).
The Albuquerque Police dubbed the shooting “random,” but Kait’s parents believe otherwise. They think their daughter was killed to prevent her from exposing illegal activities involving Dung Nguyen and his associates in both New Mexico and Southern California. The girlfriend with whom Kait spent her final evening has fled the state and is living in hiding.
While denying any knowledge about Kait’s murder, Dung Nguyen has admitted to staging phony accidents in Orance County, CA, on August 15, 1988, and March 28, 1989. He has also implicated his friend, AN QUOC LE. An is on record as having had wrecks in Westminster, CA, on January 11, 1989, and in June 1989. Dung identified An Quoc Le as the cousin of BAO TRAN, the paralegal in Orange County who set up the wrecks. The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) did not share this information with the insurance carriers, who were identified in the accident reports as National General, State Farm, Progressive and Farmers. Dung later told the D.A. that he knew of up to 20 other people from Albuquerque who were imported to California to stage wrecks.
Dung told police that for his March 1989 wreck, he rented a car from Snappy Rent-A-Car, using Kait’s credit card. Kait witnessed the wreck and met the alleged capper, Bao Tran, who paid Dung with a $1500 check. Since Dung did not have a bank account, Kait ran the check through her own account, which provided her with concrete evidence that the wreck had been paid for.
When Kait’s mother was paying Kait’s final phone bill, she discovered calls made to Santa Ana, CA, from Kait’s supposedly unoccupied apartment as soon as she was pronounced dead. Dung identified the numbers as those of Bao Tran’s phone and beeper. He also provided APD with Bao Tran’s business card, showing him to be employed by attorney MINH NGUYEN DUY, in Garden Grove, CA.
APD continued to insist Kait’s shooting was “random,” and were not willing to interview anyone out of state. By now, however, insurance fraud investigators in Southern California had read Duncan’s book and become intrigued by the case, especially when they discovered that many of the parties involved in Dung Nguyen’s and An Le’s wrecks had overlapping addresses and had submitted claims for alleged injuries in numerous other accidents.
When these investigators questioned Bao Tran, he denied receiving the phone calls made to his apartment in Santa Ana on the night of Kait’s death. He suggested the calls might have been made to his roommate, HONG PHUC DUY VAN, who also worked for Attorney Minh Nguyen Duy.
Tran refused an on-record interview, on the advice of An Le. Hong Phuc Duy Van, who has not been interviewed in connection with the case, was convicted of Arson with Bodily Injury for hiring people to burn down his video store at 7520 Mesa College Dr., San Diego, on November 7, 1989. He served a nine-month sentence and has since been released. His present location is unknown.
An Le resides in Albuquerque, but has been known to fly back and forth to L.A. with regularity.
Dung Nguyen relocated for a time to the Pacific Northwest, but is now back in Albuquerque.
Minh Nguyen Duy, who now practices in Van Nuys, denies any association with Bao Tran. Duy referred investigators to his brother DANNY DUC NGUYEN, who, though not an attorney, is in charge of the Orange County branch of Minh Nguyen Duy’s office. Despite initial promises to be of assistance, Danny Duc Nguyen has refused to return calls.
When Lois Duncan wrote “Who Killed My Daughter?”, it was her hope that the book would motivate informants to provide information that would convince APD to reactivate the investigation. Kait’s story was featured on such shows as “Good Morning, America,” “Larry King Live,” “Unsolved Mysteries” and, on April 7, 1994, “The Sally Jessy Raphael Show.” Duncan’s appearance on “Sally Jessy” led to over 1,000 phone calls to the WE-TIP hotline, but because Kait’s parents are private citizens, they have not been allowed access to the tips. Those were referred to APD, who continue to classify Kait’s murder as a “random shooting.”
The Albuquerque Chief of Police has stated, however, that “if anyone were to provide verifiable new information … that a Vietnamese criminal group, described by Ms. Duncan, was, in any way, involved in Kaitlyn’s death,” APD would be “most anxious to redirect our investigation.”
If readers of “The John Cooke Fraud Report” have information that might be of assistance in solving this crime, please, direct it to:
Michael Bush
Bush, Koppel & Schweitzer
100 Oceangate, Suite 1000
Long Beach, CA 90802
FAX (310) 495-4311
CompuServe number 70413,2125
Investigators: Please check your computers for the following names and addresses: Hong Phuc Duy Van, Bao Tran, Dung Ngoc Nguyen, An Quoc Le, Duc Dat Tran, Suu Dinh, Chien Lam, 2119 S. Fairview, Santa Ana, CA; 1431 S. Townsend, Santa Ana, CA; 3517 11th St., Santa Ana, CA; 12921 Hazel, Garden Grove, CA; 12611 Sunswept, Garden Grove, CA; 12701 Josephine, Garden Grove, CA; 13361 Pal St., Garden Grove, CA; 8308 Westminster Ave., Westminster, CA; 6704 Kelly, San Diego, CA; 2323 Kathryn SE, Albuquerque, NM; 7301 Zuni SE, Albuquerque, NM.
© Copyright 1994 Alikim Media