An Ogden man accused of killing his former wife and mother-in-law with a bomb entered a guilty plea Monday to one count of capital murder. He was then sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Toan Hua, 29, entered his plea before 2nd District Judge Michael Glasmann. In exchange for his guilty plea, the state agreed not to seek the death penalty.Hua admitted to putting a pipe bomb in a radio that detonated when his ex-wife shook it. The bomb killed her and her mother April 26, 1992, inside their Ogden home.
Killed in the blast was Cam Le Nguyen, 21, and Ut Thi Nguyen, 41. Injured were Ut Nguyen's then 44-year-old husband, Dan Dang Pham, and Cam Nguyen's then 18-month-old son, Jame Hua.
Hua had been charged with two counts of first-degree felony aggravated murder and one count of first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder. He was scheduled to stand trial on Dec. 2.
Police investigators believed Hua killed his former wife because of a dispute over whether or not Hua was the father of the boy. Police said Hua was also having problems with his father-in-law.
Hua set a package outside Nguyen's house in the downtown area earlier that Sunday morning. Cam Nguyen found the package and took it inside. She opened the package and plugged the radio in an electrical outlet. When the radio didn't work, she shook it, causing the explosion.
The younger woman was killed instantly and her mother, who was standing about five feet away, died a few minutes later. Pham and the baby were injured and treated at a local hospital.
Hua was taken into police custody a few hours after the bombing and he confessed to the murders. He has remained in the Weber County Jail without bond since his arrest.
According to the couple's divorce records, his ex-wife was not seeking alimony, but she wanted $195 a month for child support. Hua objected to paying the money because he said he was not the child's father. Blood tests later proved that Hua was the child's biological father.
The documents also stated that Nguyen got a restraining order against Hua because he had threatened to kill his former wife on numerous occasions.