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Dephne Wright was a spiritual advisor from Houston who was paid approximately $300,000 by a couple to help remove a "curse" placed on the couple's business. The double murder of the couple Long Nguyen and Huong Ly that happened in Arlington, Texas, in 2012 was the end of a multi-year series of deceit, fraud, and violence.
When the couple could no longer pay for Dephne Wright's service, she arranged for their murder so that she could try to get her money back through life insurance payments, according to Oxygen.
This case had everything from familial betrayal, fake supernatural practices, to a staged crime scene designed to mislead investigators. It took seven years, multiple arrests, and a DNA match to fully uncover the truth.
Season 30, Episode 22 of Snapped covers Dephne Wright's crime. The episode aired on March 13, 2022.
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A complete timeline of events leading up to and following Dephne Wright's crime
2000–2011: Immigration and business struggles
According to Oxygen, Long Nguyen and Huong Ly immigrated from Vietnam to the United States with their family in 2000 and settled in Arlington, Texas. Long and Huong began their commercial sewing business, which was initially successful.
Since Chau Tran, the couple's son-in-law, at the time was the only one who could speak English, he acted as the liaison and main contact person for the business. By 2011, the company had fallen into decline, and it was struggling to survive financially.
According to the Toronto Sun, the family believed their downturn in fortunes was due to a curse, so they sought spiritual aid. They found Dephne Wright from a Vietnamese language newspaper advertisement. Wright claimed to have the power to get rid of curses, and she immediately started taking thousands of dollars from the family.
June 2012: The double murder
As reported by NBC DFW, Long Nguyen and Huong Ly attended a celebration for Nguyen’s birthday on June 9, 2012, and left the party around 10:30 p.m. to return home. The following morning, on June 10, Chau Tran called 911 for a welfare check. When the police arrived at the apartment, there were signs of disarray.
The police found the couple's bodies in a bedroom closet, hogtied, beaten, and duct tape was used to suffocate them. The crime scene had been falsely staged with a blue bandana on a beer bottle and drug paraphernalia to suggest gang involvement in the crime. Blood spatter at the entrance of the apartment made it clear that the attack started the moment they walked into the apartment.
2012–2015: A cold case with no leads
According to Oxygen, for more than three years, the case remained cold. Despite an extensive investigation, no one was ever identified as a viable suspect. The DNA from the crime scene also did not match anyone in CODIS, the national DNA database.
Detectives learned that the victims had life insurance policies for $1 million, and Chau Tran was one of the beneficiaries. However, if Chau Tran was connected to the homicides, he wasn’t showing it. He was cooperative, provided an alibi that was substantiated by family members, and he was ultimately ruled out as a suspect.
October 2015: DNA match and breakthrough
On October 12, 2015, the cold case was reopened when DNA from the marijuana cigarette found at the crime scene matched 20-year-old Willie Guillory. He had been arrested the month prior for unrelated circumstances, which allowed authorities the ability to obtain his DNA and store it in the system, as reported by Oxygen.
Guillory confessed to detectives that his uncle, Bobby Guillory, had taken him with him on a trip from Houston to Arlington to collect a debt for a lady named Dephne Wright.
According to his uncle and the victim, Dephne Wright had given them a key to their front door, which she had obtained from another family member. When the couple was unable to pay, the perpetrators proceeded to carry out what they claimed were her instructions, as reported by NBC DFW.
2016–2019: Arrests, trials, and sentencing
According to Oxygen, after Willie confessed, police arrested Bobby Guillory, who stated Wright offered him $10,000 to either retrieve the money or kill the couple. Investigators later searched Wright’s residence, where they discovered ledgers indicating she charged clients, including Nguyen and Ly, massive sums for purported spiritual services.
In September 2018, Bobby Guillory was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. In September 2019, Dephne Wright was convicted of capital murder and solicitation of capital murder and was also sentenced to life without parole, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Willie Guillory, a minor when the crime was committed, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery. He received a sentence of 20 years with eligibility for parole in 2025.
Dephne Wright's episode on Snapped can be streamed on Oxygen and Peacock.
