By Khalida Sarwari
Among the hundreds of people gathered to commemorate the life of slain popular radio show host Cindy Nguyen at The Plant shopping center in San Jose on Friday night, there were tears and questions, but, more than that, there were smiles and lots of happy memories shared.
The Plant is where the 60-year-old Campbell woman was abducted last Friday after her car battery died. She had called a colleague and told her she needed help jump-starting the battery, but then had called back to say a man had come by to help her.
She wasn’t seen again until the following morning, when officers found her body in a home in the 500 block of North 12th Street, a home that police say her killer has ties to.
One week after that tragic day, the shopping center was illuminated by hundreds of white candles held by friends, family, and strangers alike who gathered to pay their respects. Nguyen’s colleague at PN Real Estate Group and good friend Nick Pham, who organized the vigil, had asked people to bring a memory of her to share.
“If there are a thousand people here, then Cindy would be very happy, because that’s a thousand good thoughts,” Pham said, standing on a stage flanked by a smiling photo of Nguyen, and lined with flowers, candles, and other memorabilia.
“Cindy was, to us, a gift from this universe,” said Louis Montalvo, another colleague and friend. “She was a superbeing, and most importantly, a very generous and loving person. She changed the lives of everyone around her.”
Elected leaders and police officials were also there to extend their condolences and share words of solace with the community.
“San Jose’s a very, very safe community, generally speaking,” Police Chief Chris Moore said. “But even though we know we are a safe community, events like this do occur, and when they do we do need to rally around each other like this.”
Moore thanked the community for their efforts in assisting investigators and assured them that law enforcement would seek justice in the case.
Assistant Police Chief Rikki Goede said she and others who have worked on the case have been struck by the tragedy of Nguyen’s death.
“In Cindy we saw our mom, our sister, our aunt, our wife … that could have been any one of us and that touched us deeply,” Goede said. “There was a lot of hard work that went into this case to solve it. It couldn’t have been done without a community effort.”
Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen said her office had received hundreds of calls from people wishing to extend their condolences to Nguyen’s family, friends, and network of supporters.
“And just from the outpouring of phone calls, I realized what a significant person she was,” Nguyen said. “Just the presence of so many people here tonight, we recognize what a significant role she played in the Vietnamese-American community as well as in the city of San Jose.”
Nguyen was joined on stage by Council members Ash Kalra, Rose Herrera, and Sam Liccardo, each of whom also spoke briefly.
Mayor Chuck Reed’s public safety policy adviser Jose Salcido and Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager extended their support to Nguyen’s family.
Many who did not know Nguyen personally said they were there to support the family and community. They said they were moved by the sheer senselessness of the crime.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Cindy Nguyen, a 22-year-old San Jose State University student who is not related to the murder victim. “You wouldn’t think that that would happen to someone living their life, going through their daily routine.”
Nguyen said the incident has reminded her to be more aware of her surroundings and hold back from trusting strangers. Last night, women were not the only ones who felt that way.
James Pham, a 38-year-old test engineer for Apple who knew Nguyen mainly through her cousin, Jason, and occasionally socialized with her, said he was “shocked” by the way she died.
“It’s very unexpected,” Pham said. “I’d never imagine something like this happening to her. She was so intelligent … but she was unlucky.”
Carlos Murillo, a 21-year-old civil engineering student at San Jose State University who lives a few miles from the shopping center, said he was also stunned by her death, though he did not know her.
“She got put in a bad position,” he said. “It could’ve happened to anybody.”
Paul Castillo, a 33-year-old parolee from San Jose with a violent criminal history, is the man suspected of kidnapping and killing Nguyen as part of a crime spree that began at a Chevron gas station in San Jose on the morning of Sept. 16 and ended Sunday night outside of a Little Caesars restaurant in West Sacramento. He is being held without bail at Santa Clara County Jail.
Prosecutors have charged him with eight felony counts, including murder and kidnapping during a carjacking, which could make him a candidate for the death penalty.
Castillo is scheduled for a court hearing on Oct. 5.
Nguyen’s funeral is scheduled to take place on Monday at the Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park on Curtner Avenue.
