Fortune Teller Murders: Ha and Anita

2 min readMar 3, 2021

Where: Little Saigon, Westminster in Orange County, California (USA)
Date of Crime: 21 April 2005
Type of Crime: Murder from Knife Stabbing in victim’s house
Victims Involved: Ha ‘Jade’ Smith and her daughter, Anita Nhi Vo

Ha ‘Jade’ Smith (left), Anita Nhi Vo (right)

The Accused (mastermind): Tanya Jamie Nelson
Status: Sentenced to death on 23 April 2010
Other Accomplices: Phillipe Zamora
Status: Sentenced to 27 years in prison on 12 April 2010

Summary of Crime: Ha is a renowned famous fortune teller in Little Saigon and has many customers in the community. Tanya Nelson was one of them. On 21 April 2005, Tanya (and Phillipe) entered the home of Ha and Anita and brutally stabbed them to death. Before leaving, they doused the victims in white paint (in Vietnamese culture: white is often associated with death). There are several different reasons behind the attack: some stated that Tanya wanted Ha to cast a love spell on her ex-boyfriend but it did not work, infuriating her. Others claimed that she did it because she wanted to rob Ha (she stole Ha’s credit cards, jewelry, identification cards, and more). Phillipe was roped in with the promise of an introduction to gay sex partners.

Links to Other Articles

Full Recap of Crime

Sword and Scale: https://www.swordandscale.com/the-curious-fortune-teller-murders/
I cant Believe its Non-Fiction: https://icantbelieveitsnonfiction.com/2018/05/09/ha-smith-and-anita-vo/

News Articles

Court Sentencing

Tanya’s death penalty: https://www.foxnews.com/us/woman-gets-death-penalty-in-fortuneteller-killing
Phillipe’s sentencing: https://abc7chicago.com/archive/7340594/

YouTubers who covered the Case

Stephanie Soo

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