Slain Couple Were Newly Wed

A couple who were found dead in their Newport Beach home in an apparent murder-suicide were identified Thursday as newlyweds, police said.

Aaron Miles, 37, and Uyen Tran, 35, were discovered about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday in a bedroom of a duplex she owned in the 200 block of Lugonia Street, near the shore and Huntington Beach.

Tran sent a text message to a family member about 10 a.m., saying she feared for her life and that if anything happened to her, her husband of two months was responsible, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman.

It was unknown what time the family member received the text message, but she called police at 12:15 p.m., Shulman said.

When officers arrived, they found an unlocked sliding door and the couple dead, inside a bedroom. A handgun was found near Miles, police said. Tran’s 10-year-old son was not home.

Shulman said no note was found, and investigators don’t know a motive.

Miles’ father, George Miles, 64, of Barksdale, Texas, said there was no foreshadowing of Wednesday’s shootings.

“We don’t know what happened,” he said. “It was just a shock. He’s been a blessing to our family all of his life, and we’re still numb and trying to accept the fact. I cannot comprehend it. It doesn’t fit up with the profile we know of Aaron over his life.”

Miles said he didn’t know his son had already married because he was planning to travel to Newport Beach in February for the wedding. Miles said he had not met Tran and that his wife had spoken to her only once, before Thanksgiving.

Miles said his son had served as a captain in the Marine Corps before opening an investment-counseling business in San Pedro. Tran, who also went by the first name of Lisa, worked in the mortgage business. Miles moved into his wife’s home after they married.

Miles’ death left at least one investor worried about money she had entrusted to him.

Lisa Nagy, a former Southern California resident now living on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., said she had invested about $400,000 with Miles and had received payments of $10,000 to $20,000 a month.

Those were returns that supplemented the disability payments she received after an illness left her unable to continue her practice as a physician.

Nagy said she and several acquaintances refinanced or sold their homes to generate funds to invest with Miles.

“I have no money at all on hand,” she said. “I gave it all to him.”

Nagy said Miles seemed reassuringly stable until last fall, when he began snapping angrily at clients and confided in her that he was having family problems and was feeling under pressure.

Nagy said she last spoke with him Tuesday, when he told her not to worry about her finances.

“He told me our money was safe, but that somebody was asking questions about his accounting practices,” Nagy said.