What did Xichen Yang do? Case explored as Florida man is denied bond in brutal murder of wife

Xichen Yang, a 21-year-old Florida pool technician, has been accused by authorities of the murder of his newlywed wife, 21-year-old Nhu Quynh Pham, whose body was recovered in their Altamont Springs home on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Xichen Yang made his first appearance in court before Seminole County Judge Wayne Culver denied his bond.

According to the New York Post, the marriage between Xichen Yang and Nhu Quynh Pham was volatile by local authorities, who had been called to address disturbances in their home 3 times in the last 6 months. Their previous visit to the house was less than two weeks before Pham's death.

On Tuesday, authorities went to the home for a standard wellness check. They found Nhu Quynh Pham dead in the bathtub with a knife wound on her neck.

Police quickly identified Xichen Yang as a person of interest and, according to the charge sheet, allegedly got him to confess to the murder. Yang has been charged with first-degree murder.

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What happened between Xichen Yang and Nhu Quynh Pham?

According to ClickOrlando, Xichen Yang and Nhu Quynh Pham had a fraught relationship. In January this year, Yang was accused of slapping Pham, but the charges were later dropped.

In the last instance where the police went to speak to Yang at his house, it was because the 21-year-old man was allegedly committing self-harm. In a press release, a police spokesperson Michelle Montalvo explained the circumstances.

Montalvo said:

"(Nhu Quynh Pham) called where he was doing self-harming, and they had gotten into an altercation."

She added:

"There was a history of altercations.When officers got on scene and got all the details, they were able to determine he was doing self-harm to himself, and the victim was also concerned for him. He was taken into protective custody."

According to an arrest report filed by Seminole County, Yang called his neighbor Michael Cole Rathel, claiming that he had murdered his wife. Rathel proceeded to call 911.

The arrest report read:

"Yang called Rathel’s son, Michael Cole Rathel, and informed him he had stabbed his wife, killing her, and was attempting to clean up the evidence."

As per the complaint, Yang was found in a pool of his wife's blood. According to People News, he had told authorities and his employers that he killed her for burning his passport and doing "unspeakable things" to him.

Authorities claimed that Yang told them that after slitting his wife's throat, he carried her to the bathtub, where he held her hand as she died.

Yang is due to be arraigned in court on August 2, 2022.