Van Thanh Vu charged with stabbing murder Thi Thuy Huong Nguyen

A twist has emerged in the case of a 70-year-old man who is accused of stabbing a 65-year-old woman to death at a Canberra home, with their daughter discovering the gruesome scene.

Van Vu faced the ACT Magistrates Court during a bedside hearing on October 27 charged with murder following the alleged stabbing death of a 65-year-old woman in Bruce on October 23, 2023. Picture: Sam Turner

The man charged with the stabbing murder of a woman in Bruce has been remanded into custody after appearing at a bedside court hearing under police guard.

Van Thanh Vu, 70, was arrested by police on Friday several days after the body of a Thi Thuy Huong Nguyen, 65, was discovered by her daughter on Monday afternoon at a Kinloch Cct home.

Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Steel told media on Tuesday the daughter came across the gruesome scene in the kitchen, with the woman suffering “from a number of stab wounds”.

Emergency services could not revive the woman at the scene, while the 70-year-old was rushed unresponsive to hospital with serious injuries to his wrist, where he remained under police guard.

Vu was arrested by ACT Policing Homicide Squad detectives on Friday and appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court by video link from hospital.

ACT Policing established a crime scene at the Bruce home on October 23, 2023.

The Bruce man was dressed in a hospital gown while seated in his bed as an interpreter read out his charges.

Prosecutor Trent Hickey told the court Vu’s family asked for a non publication order of the names involved in the case, citing their anxiety if he were to be named in media reports.

Police guarded the home while investigators combed through the crime scene.

Defence lawyer Nathan Deakes did not oppose the order but Mr Hickey did, citing case law which said “embarrassment and shame” were not a valid for a non-publication order.

Special magistrate Sean Richter said a non-publication order could only be in place if it was crucial to the administration of open justice.

Mr Richter however said nothing before him justified this order and refused to make one.

No pleas were entered by Vu, with Mr Deakes marking his client as a “prisoner at risk” due to the recent attempts Vu made “towards his own life”.

His matter will return to court next month.

It’s understood the pair were residing at the home together and were residents of Bruce.