Technology entrepreneur Minh Nguyen charged with murdering ex-wife’s husband

SOCIAL networking entrepreneur accused of shooting dead his ex-wife’s new husband as couple’s children look on.

Tech pioneer charged with murder

A MAN who once co-founded the social networking site Plaxo with millionaire tech pioneer Sean Parker has been charged with murdering his ex-wife’s new husband.

Tech entrepreneur Minh Nguyen, 38, is now in jail after allegedly shooting his ex-wife’s new husband Corey Mattison at their Ashburn, Virginia home.

Two children were in the residence about 9.30pm on January 15 when Nguyen turned up and allegedly killed Mattison. His ex-wife Denise Mattison and another child returned while the incident was unfolding. No one else was injured.

Neighbours told NBC Washington that the shooting came after months of conflict over child custody and visitation issues.

His ex-wife was remarried in November, just months before the killing. She took to Facebook to express her heartbreak on a page set up to honour Mattison’s memory.

Denise Mattison with her husband Corey Mattison (right).

“I watched my husband lure a gunman out of the house ... he sacrificed his life to save me and to put an end to the emotional turmoil my children and I endured,” she wrote.

“My husband is the greatest man I’ll ever know. Ask anyone who knows me ... I would have said this from the day I met him. He was already my hero. He stepped in to something that no one else would have. He endured so much, because he wanted to rescue us ... I have loved this man all my life ... and will love him until the day I die.”

Mattison was a project manager at a glass construction company in the Washington area, according to WPBF, and he had two children from a previous marriage. Denise Mattison also had three children.

Mattison’s boss Rick Knutson told WPBF that Mattison had been concerned about Nguyen’s behaviour on weekends when the entrepreneur’s kids would spend time with the family.

“Corey and his wife would go to a baseball game with the kids, and (Nguyen) would blow up,” Knutson said. “He would try to prevent them from taking the kids anywhere. The guy seemed to be a little unstable.”

On their wedding day: Denise Mattison with her husband Corey.

Loudoun County Police has described the incident as a “domestic-related homicide” and they have charged Nguyen with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

It is a shocking fall from grace for the tech entrepreneur who, according to Tech Crunch, began his career working at mass media corporation AOL before going on to co-found Plaxo, an online address book and social networking service. Co-founder Sean Parker went on to be the first president of Facebook and he also co-founded file-sharing computer service Napster.

This handout photo provided by the Loudoun County Virginia, Sheriff's Office shows Minh D. Nguyen. AP Photo/Loudoun County Va, Sheriff's Office.

Plaxo was acquired by Comcast in 2008, and Nguyen went on to develop other projects including app creating platform App Press. In recent years he mentored other start up companies. Since news of the charges against Nguyen became public, members of Washington’s technology community have rallied around him, even starting a donation page on Gofundme.com to raise money for his legal fees. However, the page was taken down on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.

A separate fund for Corey Mattison’s family has attracted $27,995 in donations.