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WSU student says she ‘decided to play dead’ after vicious stabbing

Chi Quang Du, bottom, is seen in court with one of his defense attorneys, Grant Rhoten, on Tuesday, March 16, in Greene County. On Monday, March 15, Du pleaded guilty to slashing Thuy Mai's throat and repeatedly stabbing her as she left WSU's Dunbar Library. Du is on trial for a second-count of attempted aggravated murder for attacking Eric Borton, who tried to help Mai after she was attacked by Du in October 1997.

Staff photo by Chris Stewart Chi Quang Du, bottom, is seen in court with one of his defense attorneys, Grant Rhoten, on Tuesday, March 16, in Greene County. On Monday, March 15, Du pleaded guilty to slashing Thuy Mai's throat and repeatedly stabbing her as she left WSU's Dunbar Library. Du is on trial for a second-count of attempted aggravated murder for attacking Eric Borton, who tried to help Mai after she was attacked by Du in October 1997.

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Thuy Mai takes the stand on Tuesday, March 16, in the attempted murder trial of Chi Quang Du in Greene County. Mai described the attack on her outside the Wright State University library in October, 1997.

Staff photo by Chris Stewart Thuy Mai takes the stand on Tuesday, March 16, in the attempted murder trial of Chi Quang Du in Greene County. Mai described the attack on her outside the Wright State University library in October, 1997.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Chi Quang Du is arraigned via video feed at the Green County Courthouse in this Friday January 9, 2008 file photo. On Monday, March 15, 2010 Du pleaded guilty to slashing Mai’s throat and repeatedly stabbing her as she left WSU’s Dunbar Library. He is on trial for a second-count of attempted aggravated murder for attacking Borton, who tried to help Mai after she was attacked by Du.

Staff photo by Jim Noelker Chi Quang Du is arraigned via video feed at the Green County Courthouse in this Friday January 9, 2008 file photo. On Monday, March 15, 2010 Du pleaded guilty to slashing Mai’s throat and repeatedly stabbing her as she left WSU’s Dunbar Library. He is on trial for a second-count of attempted aggravated murder for attacking Borton, who tried to help Mai after she was attacked by Du.

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Du convicted of attempted aggravated murder in WSU stabbing case

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Thuy Mai takes the stand on Tuesday, March 16, in the attempted murder trial of Chi Quang Du in Greene County. Mai described the vicious attack by Du, including a stab wound that went through her neck into her vertebrae.

Staff photo by Chris Stewart Thuy Mai takes the stand on Tuesday, March 16, in the attempted murder trial of Chi Quang Du in Greene County. Mai described the vicious attack by Du, including a stab wound that went through her neck into her vertebrae.

Victim recalled ex’s word: ‘If I can’t have you no one can have you! Die! Die!’

By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer Updated 2:26 AM Wednesday, March 17, 2010

XENIA — Thuy Mai struggled with a knife to her neck and then pretended to be dead while her ex-boyfriend attacked her and a friend as they left Wright State University’s Dunbar Library in 1997, she told a jury.

“I was holding the blade, trying to push it away from my neck,” Mai recalled Tuesday, March 16, for a Greene County Common Pleas jury. “I tried to push it out, and he tried to push it in. Next thing I knew he pulled the knife across. I still have the scar.”

Mai’s testimony was the first time she’s faced ex-boyfriend Chi Quang Du, who a day earlier pleaded guilty to attempting to murder her. Mai and her friend, Eric Borton, were attacked by Du as they left the library on Oct. 28, 1997. Mai was unwavering as she spent nearly two hours on the witness stand reliving her relationship with Du and the night he attacked her, including a stab wound she said went through her neck and hit her vertebrae.

“I decided to play dead,” Mai testified. She said Du told her: “If I can’t have you, no one can have you! Die! Die!”

Defense attorney Jay Adams claims Du had no intention of killing Borton, who was leaving the library with Mai and came to her aid, but only wanted to fend him off. “If he had wanted to kill both, Borton would have been the first victim,” Adams said.

Mai told jurors that Du followed her constantly after she broke off their relationship almost a year prior to the attack. Another prosecution witness, Bichu-Nu Ngnyen, told jurors Du was anxiously searching for Mai and Borton earlier the day of the attack. She did not call police, although she said she was “scared and frightened.”

Mai said Du confessed to watching her sleep as he peered through the bedroom window of her Beavercreek home and said: “If I die, I die with you.” He was also obsessed with their breakup causing him to lose face in front of his friends, asking, “Why do you embarrass me?” Mai testified.

Borton is expected to take the stand as soon as today, March 17, to testify about the attack.

In opening statements Tuesday, attorneys on both sides gave different accounts of Du’s intent when he attacked Mai and Borton. Assistant County Prosecutor David Hayes said during the attacks, Du asked Borton if he was “willing to die” for her.

Adams told the jury Du was willing to take responsibility for his actions, but not for the attempted murder of Borton, which he never intended to commit. “There is never any more contact with him after he fends him off,” Adams said.

Hayes, rebuking the claim that Du was taking responsibility, said, “People who are responsible for what they do, do not run away in the darkness of night.”

After the stabbing, authorities said, Du fled the country and lived on the lam for more than a decade. He was apprehended in a Toronto suburb in December 2008 after he was featured on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.”

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