Wife Revealed New Boyfriend, Jealous Husband Strangled Her: Court

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis man admitted he was jealous when strangled his wife to death using a cellphone cable. Tony Le, 55, pleaded guilty to the only charge against him, second-degree murder with intent. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 12.

His lawyer indicated in court that he would be arguing for a downward departure from the recommended Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines sentence. Prosecutors will be seeking the recommended sentence of 306 months (more than 25 years) in prison.

Le, an American citizen, used an interpreter to translate Hennepin County District Court Judge Jay Quam’s statements and his lawyer’s questions into Vietnamese. According to the criminal complaint and the testimony in court, Le had recently returned home from a trip to Vietnam to visit people he knew there. He and his 48-year-old wife, My Huong Huynh Truong, lived on the 1000 block of West 61st Street in Minneapolis.

Le acknowledged that the couple were going through some difficult times. They had been together for 20 years.

On Sept. 25, 2017, Le testified that his wife returned home somewhere between 3 and 4 a.m. She told him she had been at a party, that she had a new boyfriend, and she was going to leave Le.

Le acknowledged he became very angry and jealous. While his wife was in the bathroom, he grabbed a cellphone cord, put it around her neck and strangled her until she fell to the floor, Le told the court. He then went to his sister’s house and told her what he had done.

Le then called police and met them back at his house and confessed to them, according to a news release.

Le’s attorney, during the testimony in court, said that they had hired medical and psychological experts and planned to put on a defense of heat of passion in hopes of persuading a jury to convict him of a lesser charge. However, in recent weeks, Le had told his attorney he wanted to plead guilty to provide some relief to his family.

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