Florida Man Allegedly Confessed To Wife's Murder On Phone While Cleaning The Crime Scene

A Orlando, Florida man is under arrest after allegedly confessing to slashing his wife’s throat and then holding her hand through her final moments.

Xichen Yang, 21, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and tampering with physical evidence on Tuesday, just hours after police found his wife, Nhu Quynh Pham, dead in the couple's Altamonte Springs home, according to police.

Officers were called to the scene shortly before 9:00 a.m. that day after a man at Yang’s place of employment called Yang to see why he hadn’t arrived at work. That man informed police that Yang allegedly confessed to the murder over the phone in explaining why he wasn't at work, charging documents reviewed by Oxygen.com stated.

Yang allegedly told his boss’s son that he stabbed Pham to death and was “attempting to clean up the evidence,” according to charging documents.

Officers responded to the Charter Pointe Apartments and gained entry into the Ballard Street home after the leasing office provided them with a key.

“Immediately after officers entered the apartment, a female was found lying in a pool of blood in a bathtub,” said police.

Pham had sustained a deep laceration to the left side of her neck, “which had blood running down from it.” Police added that “her stomach was also pooled with blood.”

Although “contact was made” with Pham by responding officers, the Seminole County Fire Department pronounced her dead on the scene at 09:13 a.m.

Yang was not at the residence when police arrived, but investigators found two pink rubber gloves and a bottle of cleaning disinfectant in the main hallway.

In a statement from the Altamonte Springs Police Department e-mailed to Oxygen.com, police stated that Yang was identified as a person of interest and arrested without incident soon after the discovery of his wife's body. The details of Yang’s arrest were not included in the probable cause affidavit.

According to the charging documents, Yang admitted to cutting Pham with a knife following his arrest, and told officers that, after he slashed her, his wife began “crawling down the wall” toward the exit.

“Yang then took her to the bathroom,” police stated. “He placed Pham in the bathroom tub, ‘played her favorite music,’ and ‘held her hand’ for what he estimates to be approximately 10 minutes.”

“Yang did not call an ambulance for Pham while she was dying,” they added.

Yang also allegedly admitted to police that he could feel himself getting angrier and angrier just before the attack, adding that he could have stopped himself from killing her. When asked why he didn’t, Yang allegedly said it wasn’t “how he was raised” and that he was the kind of person to go “all the way.”

He further stated that he'd tried to clean Pham’s blood from the walls and floor, according to police.

Detectives also spoke to the son of Yang’s boss, to whom Yang reportedly confessed the murder. When the witness attempted to reprimand Yang for not showing up to work on time, Yang allegedly admitted to doing “unspeakable” things, claiming he killed his wife because she had burned his passport.

According to local reports, Yang and Pham had a short, troubled marriage.

Deputies had previously been called to intervene in January, and Yang was arrested for domestic violence, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by CBS Orlando affiliate WKMG-TV. Authorities noted “minor redness on the face of the victim,” who was identified as Pham.

At the time, Yang and Pham lived in separate residences and had been married for six months.

Yang is currently in the custody of Seminole County Corrections Deputies while awaiting medical clearance before being transferred to the county jail, according to the police statement. Court records show he is being held without bond and is scheduled for an arraignment on Aug. 2.