Twins Were Suspects in College Student's Killing. Then One Went to Jail for His Brother’s Crime
Twins Were Suspects in College Student's Killing. Then One Went to Jail for His Brother’s Crime
Christina CoulterMon, June 29, 2026 at 2:53 PM UTC
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Anh Tong, Ductrung "Trung" TongCredit: San Jose Police Dept. -
Richard Phan, 22, was killed during a birthday party fight in California in January 2014
Prosecutors later announced they were dropping the homicide case against one twin and pursuing it against the other
Court records show Ductrung “Trung” Tong ultimately received a seven-year prison sentence, while Anh Tong pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact
After a California college student was fatally stabbed at a birthday party, twin brothers quickly came under suspicion. But the case took a stunning turn when one twin spent nearly two years in jail — before authorities concluded his brother was responsible.
The killing of San Jose State University student Richard Phan — and the wrong-twin mystery that followed — is now the subject of the Audible Original podcast Blood Will Tell, which examines the investigation and its years-long fallout.
In the six-part series, writer, journalist and book author Jen Miller, who co-produced the podcast, revisits a case that sounds almost unbelievable: a birthday party, a deadly fight, twin suspects and a homicide case that appeared to turn on one question: which brother was which?
Phan, 22, a senior majoring in biological sciences, was stabbed around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 26, 2014, during a fight that broke out at a birthday party in suburban San Jose, according to NBC Bay Area and CBS San Francisco. He died at a hospital about 30 minutes later. Authorities said Phan may have been trying to break up a fight when he was stabbed.
After the stabbing, investigators soon focused on twin brothers Anh Tong and Ductrung "Trung" Tong. Witnesses told investigators they were unable to determine which brother was responsible because the twins looked so much alike, NBC Bay Area reported at the time.
The case was complicated not only by the brothers' resemblance, but by their bond. Blood Will Tell traces how Trung had long looked up to Anh and followed his lead, from their childhood in Vietnam to their new lives in California.
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But after Anh landed in jail on a murder charge, the dynamic between the brothers shifted. Anh spent nearly two years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, while Trung struggled with whether to come forward to free his brother.
According to materials provided by the podcast, Trung eventually turned himself in. Court records reviewed by PEOPLE confirm he pleaded guilty in 2016 to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon enhancement and received a seven-year prison sentence. Anh, meanwhile, ultimately pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact.
The podcast traces the brothers' lives before and after the case, from their childhood in Vietnam and move to California to the world of organized crime that eventually pulled them both in.
After prison, Trung began trying to build a new life as a therapist, while Anh became a father and started a new career, according to the podcast materials. The series culminates with the brothers sitting down for an emotional conversation about what happened between them — and whether their bond could survive it.
The six-part Audible Original podcast Blood Will Tell is available now.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
