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In Ice Cold Blood: Miss Fortune

December 11, 2025·42 min·4 clips

Detectives find Ha and Anita dead with white paint poured over their faces in a strange, ritualistic arrangement.

This episode covers the second season, fifth episode of the documentary series "In Ice Cold Blood," titled "Miss Fortune," which investigates the murders of a fortune teller and her daughter. Hosts Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle, known for their comedic and passionate true crime commentary, recap and react to the episode. The case centers on Ha Smith, a renowned Vietnamese fortune teller in Westminster, California, and her daughter Anita Vo, a UCLA law student. Ha Smith was a single mother who carried her five-year-old daughter through the Cambodian jungle to escape communist Vietnam, eventually building a successful fortune-telling business. Her clients, some paying up to $15,000 for services like love spells, included Tanya Nelson, who was obsessed with her brother-in-law. On April 22, 2005, police discovered the brutally stabbed bodies of Ha and Anita in their home, which had been ransacked. Both victims had 15 to 20 knife wounds each, and their faces and hands were covered in white paint, a detail that baffled investigators. The murder weapons were knives from the home's kitchen block, found washed in a plastic bag, and a bloody footprint was left on a bathmat. Initial suspects included Anita's ex-boyfriend, Dung, and a handyman with paint-splattered boots, but both were cleared. A break came when the victims' stolen credit cards were used at a Target store by an Asian man and woman, later identified as Tanya Nelson and Philippe Zamora. Police tracked Tanya to a hotel where she was arrested, and a search of her home revealed a calendar entry on the murder date reading "horrible sin." Philippe Zamora confessed that Tanya, enraged after Ha refused to cast a love spell on her brother-in-law, blackmailed him into committing the murders by threatening to expose his secret life as a gay man. The hosts express awe at Ha Smith's resilience, describing her journey as "the most single mother badassery you can possibly have." They find the detail of $64,000 in cash hidden in a vacuum cleaner both shocking and a testament to Ha's cleverness. Patrick and Gillian are particularly struck by the killers' stupidity, noting their jumpy behavior on Target surveillance and their purchase of airline tickets in the victims' names. The white paint covering the victims' faces and hands is highlighted as a uniquely bizarre element, with the FBI having no record of such a detail in any prior American murder case. The hosts also discuss the dangers of operating a spiritually charged, cash-based business from one's home, noting how clients' intense beliefs and financial investments could lead to violence. The tone is conversational, humorous, and deeply engaged, with the hosts frequently interjecting personal anecdotes and reactions alongside their recap. Their style blends educational summary with comedic commentary and empathetic outrage at the crime. This episode will appeal to listeners who enjoy detailed true crime stories with a focus on victim backgrounds and investigative twists, delivered with energetic and comedic hosting. Those who prefer a purely serious, straightforward narrative or are sensitive to humorous asides during discussions of violent crime might choose to skip it.

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