Trial starts for Fresno man who stabbed wife 100+ times as their child watched
There is little disagreement between the prosecution and defense that accused murderer Chinnawat Vue fatally stabbed his wife Xia Vang multiple times in 2016 for having an affair.
What’s being challenged in Vang’s killing is: what was going through Vue’s mind while he punctured his 22-year-old wife’s body more than 100 times inside their bedroom, as their 3-year-old son watched?
Prosecutor Elana Smith didn’t mince words during her brief opening statement to the jury Monday, the first day of the trial where Vue stands accused of murder.
She said Vue committed murder plain and simple, driven by anger over Vang’s affair and his failure to stop her from wanting to leave him.
She repeated a statement attributed to Vue: “If I can’t have you, no one can have you.”
Vang’s sister Daisy Vang testified her sister was afraid of Vue, but also felt trapped by cultural norms.
“In the Hmong culture, women are taught to obey their husbands and do the chores,” Daisy Vang testified. “In my experience it is the men who have the power, women don’t.”
Defense Attorney Phillip Billington agrees Vue, 31, killed his wife. He is trying to convince the jury to consider a lesser charge, such as second-degree murder.
“Was there any provocation?” he asked the jury.
Billington described Vue as a hard-working husband, who worked two jobs to support his wife and three children.
Vue’s defense says he was shocked and angry when he found out his young wife was having an affair with an older, wealthier man she met while doing her internship at a nonprofit group.
Vang was studying to be a social worker. Her husband intercepted a romantic text message between his wife and the other man. Billington said Vue confronted the other man on the telephone but that didn’t stop the affair.
As the relationship continued, Billington said Vue accused his wife of neglecting their children and the housework around their northeast Fresno home near East Norwich and North Whitney avenues.
Vue tried to keep his marriage together by summoning the family elders for their help. Over several months, there were family meetings to try and resolve their issues. But it didn’t work, Billington said.
Vue began to drink more and became physically abusive to Vang. He also threatened to kill himself if she left him, Billington said.
On the night of the killing, March 8, 2016, Vue told a friend he believed things were getting better and then he found out she had left their home that afternoon with her boyfriend.
When she returned, Vue tried again to convince her to stay, but she again refused.
At one point, Billington said, Vang told Vue he didn’t make enough money and that her boyfriend had lots of money and could take care of her better than he could.
Vue then went into the kitchen to get a knife, Billington said. When he returned to the bedroom, he put the weapon down and then tried to kiss Vang, who pushed him away.
“He doesn’t want to let her go,” Billington said. “She hits him twice and he snaps.”
Police photos of the crime scene showed their disheveled bed, covered with blankets and blood. Vang’s body was on the side of the bed.
Vue tried to kill himself by slashing his throat, but he did not succeed, Billington said.
He fled the home, but was caught a few hours later near Hume Lake by U.S. Forest Service police.
Testimony in the trial continued Tuesday.
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Trial starts for Fresno man who stabbed wife 100+ times as their child watched."
