Man shot neighbor then used 'cicada shedding' tactic to escape for 22 years

Hunt for fugitives

One day at the end of July 2024, at the People's Court of Nghe An province, the first instance trial of defendant Luong Van Bun (43 years old), originally from Kim Da commune, Tuong Duong district, was held for the crime of murder. The case in which Bun was the defendant occurred 22 years ago. The victim in the case was Luong Kham V. (born in 1976). At that time, Bun used a gun to shoot his neighbor in the chest because of a small conflict, causing a stir in the poor village in Kim Da commune (Tuong Duong district).

Before the incident, Bun and Mr. V. were neighbors. The two houses were close together, separated only by a small dirt road. The neighborly relationship between the two families was damaged due to the boundary of the two houses' land. Although the government had tried to mediate many times, the two sides had not yet reached an agreement on the boundary. Occasionally, quarrels between the two families still occurred. The climax was the incident that occurred on the afternoon of November 28, 2002.

According to the case file, that day, Luong Kham V.'s family leveled the house foundation, damaging the bamboo fence and crops in Bun's garden. Seeing this, Bun loudly questioned him, but Mr. V. said, "If it's broken, fix it." While the two were arguing, Mr. V. walked onto Bun's land, cursing as he walked. At this time, Bun suddenly went into the house, got a homemade gun, and shot Mr. V. in the left chest.

The sudden shooting caused Mr. V. to collapse to the ground. People present quickly took the victim to the hospital. Thanks to timely emergency care, Mr. V. survived but suffered 33% health damage.

After committing the crime, Luong Van Bun quickly fled. The police investigation agency initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and organized a manhunt for Luong Van Bun to serve the investigation but without results. On January 24, 2003, Luong Van Bun was wanted by the police.

A short time later, Bun's wife and children also disappeared from the area. Authorities believe that Bun may have taken his wife and children across the border to Laos to live. The search for the killer is still ongoing but has yielded no results as there are no clues.

In 2004, when the Ban Ve hydroelectric project was built, many households in the reservoir area had to be relocated. Many people in Kim Da commune were relocated to Thanh Son commune (Thanh Chuong district), hundreds of kilometers away from their hometown. In 2009, Kim Da commune was officially removed from the commune-level administrative map of Tuong Duong district. However, Luong Van Bun's crimes have not been forgotten...

For many years, Nghe An Provincial Police teams have been searching for Luong Van Bun but have not found any trace of him. The search for this special wanted person started from scratch, but that did not pose a problem for experienced detectives.

At the end of 2023, clues about Bun were discovered by the Criminal Police Department. After going to Laos, this man changed his name, changed his surname, and registered his household in Laos. To avoid detection by authorities, Bun often changed his residence, choosing remote, sparsely populated places to live. When the authorities arrived at Bun's place of residence, the subject quickly fled.

In early 2024, detectives discovered Luong Van Bun appearing in a village in the capital Vientiane, Laos. A plan to arrest Bun was quickly outlined. Immediately afterwards, a task force went to Laos to follow the trail to find where Bun was hiding. On April 5, 2024, the authorities successfully arrested Luong Van Bun while he was hiding in Vientiane.

Day of Atonement

In the witness stand, the defendant admitted to shooting Mr. V. When the jury asked why he fled after committing the crime, Bun said he was afraid. “At that time, my two children were still young. I was afraid of being arrested and sent to prison, leaving my children alone, so I decided to flee,” Bun told the court.

This defendant admitted that after a period of hiding in Laos, he heard about the situation at home and then brought his wife and children with him. In a foreign country, the defendant rented a house to live with his wife and children. At first, Bun and his wife worked in the fields every day to earn a living, then they worked as hired laborers.

While on the run in Laos, Bun said he had asked his family about the victim's health. Knowing that Mr. V. had been in poor health since he was shot and had been going to the hospital frequently for treatment, although he felt guilty, "because he had gone too far and it was difficult" he had to give up.

Luong Van Bun did not know that the bullet from his gun was lodged in the victim's lung and could not be removed. This caused the victim to suffer from poor health and live in pain for 10 years before passing away.

Attending the trial as the victim’s representative, Mr. V’s wife could not help but feel pain when recalling the miserable time of her family. She stated that after being shot by Bun, her husband’s health gradually deteriorated. For many years, she had to follow her husband to the hospital for treatment. In addition, the woman had to take care of two young children by herself.

Her husband's illness and young children weighed heavily on her shoulders. What made this woman upset was that during that difficult time, she did not receive any encouragement or visits from the defendant or any of his relatives. Therefore, at the trial, she requested that the defendant be severely punished. At the same time, she requested that the defendant compensate her 200 million VND for medical treatment and care for her husband after being shot by Bun.

In response to the above request, the defendant stated that he “had no money”. Bun said that his family currently had no assets, and his wife and children were living in a rented house. The defendant asked the victim to reduce the amount of money. Although the panel of judges created conditions to temporarily suspend the trial so that the two parties could negotiate the civil part, the two parties could not find common ground.

Having the last word before the court deliberated, the defendant apologized to the victim's family. At the same time, he asked the court to consider reducing his sentence so that he could soon return to his wife and children and correct his mistakes.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions constituted murder. The victim survived thanks to timely emergency care, so it should be dealt with severely. However, it is also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendant, such as his honest confession, remorse, and his assistance in capturing a fugitive in Laos. After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel sentenced the defendant Luong Van Bun to 12 years in prison for murder. Regarding the civil part, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim 97 million VND.

So after 22 years of being on the run, Bun had to pay for his crime. Although the murderer had paid for his crime, it seemed that the pain that the victim's family had to bear was still there. This is not only a lesson for the defendant, but for anyone, before each incident, they need to consider, hesitate, not because of a moment of anger, lack of thinking, act and then regret, have to pay dearly!