15 days of manhunt for the man who planted a mine in his ex-lover's house in Nghe An
(Baonghean) - Even though both sides have their own families, Cuc and Tho still secretly see each other. Due to a conflict over money, Cuc devises a plan to take revenge on her ex-lover with landmines.
People were shocked.
At 4:00 a.m. on November 1, 2018, the people of Hamlet 4, Trang Son Commune, Do Luong were still sleeping. Suddenly, two loud explosions tore through the quiet of the village, waking everyone up, and the sound of children crying. Following the source of the explosion, the people determined that the explosion occurred at the house of Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Tho (born in 1986).
At the scene, the wall of Ms. Tho’s house collapsed, a car and a motorbike parked in the yard were severely damaged, and many belongings were scattered all over the yard. Fortunately, the explosion did not cause any human casualties.
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| Scene of the explosion at Ms. Tho's house. Photo: NH |
Determining the seriousness of the case, the leaders of Do Luong District Police quickly reported to the Board of Directors of Nghe An Provincial Police. Immediately afterwards, a working group consisting of the Criminal Police Department, the Criminal Technique Department, the People's Procuracy, and Do Luong District Police arrived to conduct an investigation of the scene.
Police determined that the explosives were homemade mines placed in two locations, one on the side of the house and one in the victim's family's parking lot. Nghe An Provincial Police established Project 118H and assigned experienced investigators to focus on the investigation and bring the perpetrators to light.
"The incident happened at dawn, there were no witnesses so examining the changes at the scene to build a portrait of the suspect was very difficult."
Meanwhile, Ms. Tho herself said that she had many relationships with many people and many social groups, so she did not know who was the culprit behind the mine planting incident. The task force has reviewed all suspects, especially those involved in explosives cases, to focus on the fight.
Thirteen days later, while the case was under investigation, at the house of Mr. Nguyen Van Tien (born in 1953, residing in Do Luong town - Tho's biological father) and the house of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Thuy (born in 1977, residing in Van Son commune, Do Luong - Tho's older sister), people discovered two homemade mines placed in front of the gate.
The police determined that these two mines were similar to the two mines that exploded at Ms. Tho’s house on November 1, 2018. It is possible that the two mines did not explode beyond the suspect’s expectations. And if the case is not solved quickly, the suspect may place more mines elsewhere and no one can predict the consequences.
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| Mr. Tien's house, where Cuc placed the fourth mine but it did not explode. Photo: PB |
The task force was determined to quickly arrest the suspect, not allowing him to continue committing crimes, causing panic among the victim's family and the local people. When the investigation had not yet yielded results, the task force received information from the people that on January 14, a man with suspicious signs appeared at Mr. Tien and Ms. Thuy's house.
Revenge on ex
Continuing to review the relationships of the victims as well as comparing and connecting information and documents from professional measures, the Task Force identified one suspect, Luu Van Cuc (born in 1983, residing in Tan Van 3 village, Tan Dinh commune, Lang Giang district, Bac Giang province).
At this time, because she was so afraid that the suspect might continue to commit crimes, Ms. Tho admitted that recently, there had been a conflict between Cuc and Ms. Tho over money. Cuc had repeatedly threatened that if Ms. Tho did not pay, she would detonate a mine. “On the evening of November 15, after consolidating the evidence, a secret task force set off for Bac Giang with the determination to successfully arrest Luu Van Cuc,” Colonel Nam recounted.
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| Subject Luu Van Cuc. Photo: NH |
In the early morning of November 16, while Luu Van Cuc was sleeping, the police broke into his bed and arrested him, much to the surprise of the suspect and his family. Searching the house, the police seized a grenade and many objects related to the case. Cuc was transferred to Do Luong District Police to focus on the investigation. Here, Cuc initially evaded, denying that she had anything to do with the case, but with the sharp evidence, Cuc had to bow her head and admit her guilt.
According to Cuc's confession, from the beginning of 2017, Cuc and Ms. Tho met and developed feelings for each other. Cuc rented a house in Do Luong town many times to live with Ms. Tho as husband and wife. Before the authorities, Cuc stated that during this time, Cuc lent Ms. Tho money and asked her to keep many assets, with a total value of about 1.6 billion VND. In August 2018, Cuc and her husband divorced, so Cuc also broke up with Ms. Tho to return to her hometown to take care of her children.
“Cuc called many times, asking Ms. Tho to return the above amount of money, but Ms. Tho denied borrowing or keeping the money. In early October 2018, after many unsuccessful attempts to demand the money, the conflict became more and more intense, Cuc threatened and said that she would take action to make Ms. Tho regret it,” informed Lieutenant Colonel Phan Xuan Vinh - Head of the Investigation Security Department of the Provincial Police.
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| Cuc placed the mine in front of Mr. Tien's house but it did not explode. Photo: NH |
True to her word, Cuc went to the border gate with China and bought from a stranger two completed homemade mines, two mines, two detonators and a slow-burning fuse. On the evening of October 31, 2018, Cuc took a bus from Bac Giang to Vinh City, Nghe An. Then, Cuc hired an unlicensed taxi to take her to Tho's house. It was around 4:00 a.m. on November 1, the sky was dark, and no one was visible. Cuc told the driver to wait outside the alley and walked in herself.
Having been to Tho's house many times, Cuc knew every corner and design of the house. When she got to the wall, Cuc stood outside, tied two lit incense sticks to the two slow-burning wires of the two mines, and used an iron hook to hook one mine and placed it on the ground near the side window of the house. For the other mine, Cuc lit the incense and used the hook to move the mine to the ground near the car and motorbike. After finishing, Cuc went straight to Bac Giang.
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| Luu Van Cuc's family house in Bac Giang. Photo: Tuan Minh |
Two days later, Cuc learned that the two mines had exploded, so she called Tho and continued to threaten that if she did not pay, her family members would be the next targets. In a fit of madness, Cuc continued to make two mines herself and then invited her younger brother, Luu Van Quyet (born in 1990), to Nghe An to take revenge.
At 4am on November 14, Cuc and her younger brother brought two homemade mines and took a taxi to Tho's sister's house in Hamlet 2, Van Son Commune to place the mines. Next, Cuc went to Mr. Tien's house (Tho's father) in Block 5, Do Luong Town and placed a mine in front of the gate. After that, the two Cuc brothers drove straight to Bac Giang.
Currently, the Nghe An Provincial Police Investigation Security Agency has completed the investigation of the case and transferred the case file to the Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy to propose prosecuting Luu Van Cuc on three charges: Threatening to kill, Intentionally destroying property and illegally manufacturing, storing, transporting, using, and trading explosives. Luu Van Quyet has fled.
Sitting in detention, I wonder if Cuc ever regrets her actions, because with the serious crimes above, Cuc's road back is still very long.
