The son of deadly arson suspect Tho Nguyen says his mother has not reason to burn down her own shop and the rest of the building.
Cuong Nguyen spoke with reporters Tuesday. He said he had just ended a jailhouse phone call with his mother, who has been in custody since Monday night.
Nguyen is accused of starting the blaze that killed two Kansas City firefighters on October 12.
“She has 4 kids! Including me,” Nguyen said.
“There is no way she would risk that. It’s ridiculous,” he added.
The suspect’s oldest son also disputes the prosecutor’s claim that Nguyen should be linked with two others fires.
One of them was at a Lee’s Summit nail shop where she worked in 2013. That fire was determined to be an accident.
Another fire, however, in January of this year, was determined to have been intentionally set. That blaze started in an empty apartment directly above Nguyen’s NL Salon & Spa at 2614 Independence, the scene of the October 12 fire.
Nguyen’s son says none of those fires were intentionally set by his mother.
“Those fires have slowly destroyed our lives,” he said. He told reporters the family has had to move repeatedlyas a result.
Cuong Nguyen says his mother is caught in a whirlwind.
“She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She doesn’t understand you guys! She panics. She says whatever comes into her mind,” she told KMBC TV.
Earlier Wednesday, Tho Nguyen had her first court appearance.
Dressed in a blue jail jumper, her voice was high and thin as she answered questions from the judge.
At one point she told the court she might hire her own defense layer to fight the charged. In the next sentence, she asked the judge how much a lawyer costs.
Nguyen remains in jail under $2 million cash bond
She has another court hearing set for November 12.
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