Crime & Safety

Manger: 'It Just Makes No Sense Why She Was Killed'

Police say they have not determined a motive for why David Rich Hang allegedly killed his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Jessica Nguyen, in May.

Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger today revealed the first details of the four-month investigation that led to the arrest of a Gaithersburg man charged with killing his 12-year-old stepdaughter in May.

On Tuesday, police arrested David Rich Hang, 42, of the 17100 block of Queen Victoria Court and charged him with first-degree murder in the slaying of Jessica Nguyen on May 31.

DNA found on the sheath of a small sword or knife left at the scene linked Hang to the scene, police said. Manger said police believe the knife or sword from the sheath was the murder weapon, but have not found it.

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Hang, a Ride-On bus driver since January 2007, has been working since the time of the murder. On the day of Nguyen's death, Hang worked his morning shift but called off his afternoon shift, according to charging documents filed in Montgomery County District Court.

Family members found Nguyen in their home on Raven Avenue the evening of May 31. She had been stabbed dozens of times.

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Nguyen was a sixth-grader at Gaithersburg Middle School, where she was an honor-roll student. Her family moved out of the home in the Hidden Creek neighborhood a week after her death.

Investigators have not described a motive.

Hang married Nguyen's mother in June 2006, but began living in separate addresses in February 2007, according to court records. Hang filed for an uncontested divorce from Nguyen's mother in October 2010. The divorce dragged out for months and had a hearing four days before Nguyen's murder.

"The parents were going through a pretty difficult divorce," Manger said. "There was a lot of bad blood."

Manger would not say whether Hang had targeted his stepdaughter.

"That’s a question we continue to ask, and have no answer for at this point," he said. "This was an absolutely innocent victim that, as far as we can determine, it just makes no sense why she was killed.”

Police also believe Hang had at least one other wife, and possibly more, in what Manger said could have been an immigration scam.

"There are some appearances that may have been the case," he said.

Hang will have a bond review hearing today at 1pm. Stay tuned to Patch for more updates.


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