Murder of Girly Chew Hossencofft
Encyclopedia
Girly Chew Hossencofft (1963-1999) was a Malaysian-born woman who disappeared and was murdered on September 9, 1999 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
. The investigation into the murder of Girly Chew uncovered a conspiracy involving reptilian queens, UFOs and reports of cannibalism
. Girly Chew's husband Diazien Hossencofft and his girlfriend Linda Henning were convicted of her murder. Girly's body has never been found.
in the early 1990s, she met Diazien Hossencofft at SeaWorld
. In 1993, Girly and Diazien married. The two resided in Albuquerque, New Mexico
where Girly was employed as a bank teller
. In January 1999, Girly moved out of the couple's home and filed for divorce
after a domestic violence
incident where Diazien had threatened to kill her. She confided in her co-workers that she was afraid of her husband.
on March 5, 1965. He claimed that he was a thoracic surgeon
with degrees from the University of Tokyo
and Cornell Medical College. In reality, he was a con artist
who had doctored his transcripts and was expelled from medical school. Following his expulsion, he changed his name to Diazien Hossencofft and married Girly Chew. Diazien continued to trick people into believing he was a geneticist
who claimed to have leukemia
; he sold fake cancer treatments to clients, who would pay thousands of dollars for anti-aging injections. In 1996, he fathered a son with a Japanese woman living in Canada
. In 1999, while still married to his wife Girly, he was engaged to three different women, including Linda Henning.
that very day. Investigators then focused their attention on Girly Chew's apartment and Daizien Hossencofft's girlfriend, Linda Henning. Inside Girly's apartment, the investigators noticed the smell of bleach
. Using luminol
, they found considerable blood evidence.
Following the search of Girly Chew's apartment, police questioned Linda Henning, who appeared as a personal reference of Diazien. In her interview, she claimed that she believed that Diazien was an accomplished doctor and that she had no knowledge of Girly Chew Hossencofft's disappearance. She later stated to an investigative grand jury
that she did not even know Diazien's missing wife, but police were able to prove that she was lying. Investigators showed that Linda had banked at the branch where Girly worked, and that Girly had been Linda's teller on at least one occasion. Linda Henning was charged with perjury
for lying to grand jury in October 1999.
In Linda Henning's home, investigators recovered a ninja sword in her attic, which was purchased on the morning of Girly's murder. Additionally, just days after Girly Chew's disappearance, her clothing was found on a tarpaulin
in Belen, New Mexico
. Along with Girly's clothing, investigators discovered a piece of duct tape
with Linda Henning's hair attached. She and Diazien Hossencofft were both indicted and charged with murder
.
, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 61 years to be served in a Wyoming
prison.
Linda Henning's murder trial began in September 2002, more than three years after Girly Chew Hossencofft's disappearance. The trial was later televised on CourtTV. She was the first woman in New Mexico
history to face capital punishment
. Linda's friends believed that she had been brainwashed and drugged by Diazien. Onlookers noted Linda's strange actions as forensic investigators
testified for the prosecution.
During the trial, Linda Henning's attorneys Gary Mitchell and Monica Baca called Diazien Hossencofft to testify in Linda's defense. On the stand, he proclaimed that he has masterminded the murder of his wife and that Linda Henning was completely innocent. He claimed that a man named Bill Miller was Girly Chew Hossencofft's true killer, and not Linda Henning as the prosecutors had theorized. Bill Miller had been charged in the investigation, but only with five counts of tampering with evidence. Regarding Linda's blood found in Girly's apartment, Diazien had claimed that he planted her blood there. Even though Diazien testified that he planted Linda's blood in an effort to confuse investigators, Linda's attorney believed that Diazien meant to frame Linda for the crime.
. Chief judge
W. John Brennan read the verdict aloud in open court: "We find the defendant
, Linda Henning, guilty of first degree murder, felony murder
, as charged in the alternative in count one." Linda was also convicted on the charges of kidnapping
, conspiracy
to kidnap, tampering with evidence, and four counts of perjury
. Due to the special circumstances of felony murder and kidnapping, Linda faced the death penalty.
Linda Henning's sentencing was held on April 18, 2003. Before her sentencing date however, prosecutor
Paul Spiers wrote in his presentence investigation report that Linda Henning "had made statements that she had actually consumed the flesh of Girly Chew Hossencofft and that as a consequence her remains and body would never be recovered by authorities." Despite the allegation, Linda was not given a death sentence
. Instead, she was sentenced to 73 years.
For his role in the crime, Bill Miller received one year of probation.
, however all of her other convictions and her sentence were affirmed.
Girly Chew Hossencofft's murder has been televised on Court TV
, American Justice
, The Investigators
, Snapped
, and Sins and Secrets.
Albuquerque television journalist Mark Horner wrote a book about the murder of Girly Chew Hossencofft, entitled September Sacrifice.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
. The investigation into the murder of Girly Chew uncovered a conspiracy involving reptilian queens, UFOs and reports of cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. Girly Chew's husband Diazien Hossencofft and his girlfriend Linda Henning were convicted of her murder. Girly's body has never been found.
Girly Chew Hossencofft
Girly Chew was born in 1963 in Malaysia. During a visit to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1990s, she met Diazien Hossencofft at SeaWorld
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is a United States chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature captive orca, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations in Orlando,...
. In 1993, Girly and Diazien married. The two resided in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
where Girly was employed as a bank teller
Bank teller
A teller is an employee of a bank who deals directly with most customers. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier. Most teller jobs require cash handling experience and a high school diploma. Most banks provide on the job training....
. In January 1999, Girly moved out of the couple's home and filed for divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
after a domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
incident where Diazien had threatened to kill her. She confided in her co-workers that she was afraid of her husband.
Diazien Hossencofft
Diazien Hossencofft was born under the name Armand Chavez in Houston, TexasHouston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
on March 5, 1965. He claimed that he was a thoracic surgeon
Thoracic surgery
Thoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in the surgical treatment of diseases affecting organs inside the thorax . Generally treatment of conditions of the lungs, chest wall, and diaphragm....
with degrees from the University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
and Cornell Medical College. In reality, he was a con artist
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
who had doctored his transcripts and was expelled from medical school. Following his expulsion, he changed his name to Diazien Hossencofft and married Girly Chew. Diazien continued to trick people into believing he was a geneticist
Geneticist
A geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...
who claimed to have leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
; he sold fake cancer treatments to clients, who would pay thousands of dollars for anti-aging injections. In 1996, he fathered a son with a Japanese woman living in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1999, while still married to his wife Girly, he was engaged to three different women, including Linda Henning.
Linda Henning
Linda Henning was born on October 10, 1953 in Hollywood, California. After high school, she worked as a fashion model, and later became a successful fashion designer. In 1999, Linda met Diazien, and she quickly broke up with her fiance and became engaged to Diazien. Linda and Diazien both shared their joint interest for government conspiracy theories and UFOs.Crime and Investigation
On the morning September 10, 1999, Girly Chew Hossencofft failed to show up for work. Her co-workers immediately became concerned about Girly's welfare and reported her missing that day. Girly's husband Diazien Hossencofft was the prime suspect in the investigation, but he had left for Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
that very day. Investigators then focused their attention on Girly Chew's apartment and Daizien Hossencofft's girlfriend, Linda Henning. Inside Girly's apartment, the investigators noticed the smell of bleach
Bleach
Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
. Using luminol
Luminol
Luminol is a versatile chemical that exhibits chemiluminescence, with a striking blue glow, when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent...
, they found considerable blood evidence.
Following the search of Girly Chew's apartment, police questioned Linda Henning, who appeared as a personal reference of Diazien. In her interview, she claimed that she believed that Diazien was an accomplished doctor and that she had no knowledge of Girly Chew Hossencofft's disappearance. She later stated to an investigative grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
that she did not even know Diazien's missing wife, but police were able to prove that she was lying. Investigators showed that Linda had banked at the branch where Girly worked, and that Girly had been Linda's teller on at least one occasion. Linda Henning was charged with perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
for lying to grand jury in October 1999.
In Linda Henning's home, investigators recovered a ninja sword in her attic, which was purchased on the morning of Girly's murder. Additionally, just days after Girly Chew's disappearance, her clothing was found on a tarpaulin
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
in Belen, New Mexico
Belen, New Mexico
Belen is a city in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem, and over time has gained the nickname "Hub City" because of the Belen Cutoff of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Cutoff made it possible for many more trains to travel east and west across...
. Along with Girly's clothing, investigators discovered a piece of duct tape
Duct tape
Duct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...
with Linda Henning's hair attached. She and Diazien Hossencofft were both indicted and charged with murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
Trial
In January 2002, in an effort to avoid the death penalty, Diazien Hossencofft pled guilty to the murder of his wife. In exchange for his plea bargainPlea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 61 years to be served in a Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
prison.
Linda Henning's murder trial began in September 2002, more than three years after Girly Chew Hossencofft's disappearance. The trial was later televised on CourtTV. She was the first woman in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
history to face capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. Linda's friends believed that she had been brainwashed and drugged by Diazien. Onlookers noted Linda's strange actions as forensic investigators
Forensic Investigators
Forensic Investigators: Australia's True Crimes is an Australian television show hosted by Lisa McCune which aired on the Seven Network. It aired from 2004 to 2006....
testified for the prosecution.
During the trial, Linda Henning's attorneys Gary Mitchell and Monica Baca called Diazien Hossencofft to testify in Linda's defense. On the stand, he proclaimed that he has masterminded the murder of his wife and that Linda Henning was completely innocent. He claimed that a man named Bill Miller was Girly Chew Hossencofft's true killer, and not Linda Henning as the prosecutors had theorized. Bill Miller had been charged in the investigation, but only with five counts of tampering with evidence. Regarding Linda's blood found in Girly's apartment, Diazien had claimed that he planted her blood there. Even though Diazien testified that he planted Linda's blood in an effort to confuse investigators, Linda's attorney believed that Diazien meant to frame Linda for the crime.
Verdict
On October 25, 2002, Linda Henning's murder trial jury returned to the courtroom with a verdictVerdict
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
. Chief judge
Chief judge
Chief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking judge of a court that has more than one judge. The meaning and usage of the term vary from one court system to another...
W. John Brennan read the verdict aloud in open court: "We find the defendant
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
, Linda Henning, guilty of first degree murder, felony murder
Felony murder rule (New Mexico)
In the state of New Mexico, the common law felony murder rule is codified in N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-2-1.-Judicial interpretations:The rule was narrowed in State v. Ortega, where the court held that the perpetrator must have the same mens rea as one who commits murder....
, as charged in the alternative in count one." Linda was also convicted on the charges of kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, conspiracy
Conspiracy
-Types of conspiracies:* Cabal, an association between religious, political, or tribal officials to further their own ends, usually by intrigue* Conspiracy , an agreement between persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights, or to gain an unfair advantage* Conspiracy , an...
to kidnap, tampering with evidence, and four counts of perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
. Due to the special circumstances of felony murder and kidnapping, Linda faced the death penalty.
Linda Henning's sentencing was held on April 18, 2003. Before her sentencing date however, prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
Paul Spiers wrote in his presentence investigation report that Linda Henning "had made statements that she had actually consumed the flesh of Girly Chew Hossencofft and that as a consequence her remains and body would never be recovered by authorities." Despite the allegation, Linda was not given a death sentence
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
. Instead, she was sentenced to 73 years.
For his role in the crime, Bill Miller received one year of probation.
Aftermath
In 2010, Linda's perjury convictions were overturned by the New Mexico Supreme CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
The New Mexico Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is established and its powers defined by Article VI of the New Mexico Constitution...
, however all of her other convictions and her sentence were affirmed.
Girly Chew Hossencofft's murder has been televised on Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
, American Justice
American Justice
American Justice is an American criminal justice television program on the A&E Network, hosted by Bill Kurtis. The show features interesting or notable cases, such as the Selena Murder of a Star, Scarsdale Diet doctor murder, the Hillside Stranglers, Matthew Shepard, or the Wells Fargo heist, with...
, The Investigators
The Investigators (U.S. TV series)
The Investigators is a short-lived American adventure/drama television series that aired on CBS from October 5, to December 28, 1961.-Synopsis:...
, Snapped
Snapped
Snapped is an American true crime television series that airs on the Oxygen Network. Snapped debuted on August 6, 2004 and is produced in conjunction with Jupiter Entertainment.-Synopsis:...
, and Sins and Secrets.
Albuquerque television journalist Mark Horner wrote a book about the murder of Girly Chew Hossencofft, entitled September Sacrifice.