Man indicted in murder of woman in Mendota Heights office suite
Lucifer Nguyen, 44, of New Hope has been charged with murder in the killing of Beverly Cory, 48, in an office suite in Mendota Heights.
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (KMSP) - A New Hope, Minnesota man has been indicted by a grand jury in the murder in the killing of an employee in an office suite in Mendota Heights this summer.
A grand jury has charged Lucifer Nguyen, 44, with first and second degree murder in the death of Beverly Cory, 48, of Maplewood on July 29.
According to a criminal complaint, Nguyen had reportedly robbed a homeowner at gunpoint in Mendota Heights earlier that morning. The homeowner’s daughter-in-law was able to give a description of his vehicle to police.
While responding to the home invasion, officers spotted Nguyen’s vehicle and tried to stop him. Not long after they both pulled over, he drove away at a “very high rate of speed.”
The vehicle eventually crashed and landed in a pond. When officers arrived, Nguyen had already left the scene.
A short time later, officers were dispatched to a senior care facility in Mendota Heights. According to the employees, a man had appeared at the front door and when she told him he was not allowed in, he pulled out a handgun, forced her into the laundry room and took her work keys.
While the senior care facility was being evacuated, officers received a report that there was suspected blood seeping out from underneath a door of a suite in an office building across the street.
Police entered the building and found Cory’s body inside the suite. An autopsy confirmed she died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Cory’s vehicle was missing from the building parking lot. It was located on July 30 at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
During the investigation, a witness said someone matching Nguyen’s description approached him at his home around 11 a.m. on July 29 and asked for a ride to a nearby casino. Officers also discovered that Nguyen bought a cell phone at the Walmart in Oak Park Heights, approximately three miles from the fairgrounds, at 1:30 p.m.
Nguyen was arrested on July 31 while riding in a car driven by his brother.
In addition to the murder charges, Nguyen also faces charges for aggravated robbery and burglary for the crimes that took place immediately before Cory’s murder.