No bond for suspect charged with murdering 2 men in Timbergrove neighborhood back in January

Charly Edsitty Image
Friday, July 21, 2023
No bond for suspect charged with murdering 2 men in January
Polie Phan, 25, is now back in Harris County and is being charged with capital murder. We were in court Friday where we learned more details about the alleged crime.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- One of the suspects accused of murdering two men in the Timbergrove neighborhood went before a judge Friday for the first time after being brought back from Vietnam.



The judge is holding Polie Phan on no bond. He is now back in Harris County after being tracked down from Vietnam and is being charged with capital murder.




ABC13 cameras were allowed in court as he appeared in an orange jumpsuit.



This case goes back to January when the body of Dana Ryssdal was found in a Heights-area townhome. Then the body of his friend, James Martin, was found in the trunk of a white Prius.



SEE RELATED STORY: 2 suspects wanted, woman arrested in connection with double murder in Heights area



Autopsy reports show both men died from multiple gunshot wounds, and detectives believe Phan, 26, and co-defendant Jaidan Vu Nguyen, 25, were involved.



Jaiden Nguyen, left, and Polie Phan, right, were identified as two homicide suspects tied to the deaths of two men on TC Jester.
Houston Police Dept.


The motive appears to be drugs after investigators determined that Martin and Ryssdale were involved in marijuana harvesting in Oregon, where it is legal.



SEE ALSO: Docs reveal marijuana and $35k in cash were found inside home where 2 men were killed on TC Jester


New court docs are revealing the business venture between two men who were found dead inside a home one week apart in separate locations.


The Prius belonging to Martin was key in this case. A neighbor spotted the car running in the garage of the townhome and called 911.



Surveillance video also proved helpful in tracking everyone's movements.



"They were able to see on video this defendant motioning to the complainant to pull his car into that garage. So, you see on video our complainant backing his Prius into the garage and the garage door going down. A period of time passes, and officers are able to see that Prius leave the garage and you cannot see complainant Ryssdale, but you see a male consistent with Polie Phan driving the car, along with another individual, out of that location," an attorney said in court.



Phan and Nguyen were tracked down in Vietnam trying to evade police.



Nguyen should be back in Harris County by Friday night. A third person, Kathy Vu, Phan's girlfriend, has been charged with tampering with evidence after allegedly helping clean up the crime scene. A judge in probable cause court set her bond at $40,000.



Kathy Vu, a suspect in the TC Jester slayings, is seen here in a booking photo.
Houston Police Dept.


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