Student suspect arrested for murder and robbery due to debt

Thanh Xuan District Police in coordination with the Criminal Police Department of Hanoi City Police arrested the suspect in the murder of a woman in the Royal City apartment building.

Suspect Pham Thanh Tung at the police station. Photo: Giang Long

On the afternoon of November 1, information from the Criminal Police Department said the suspect's identity was identified as Pham Thanh Tung, 21 years old, residing in Ninh Binh, currently a student studying at a university in Hanoi.

Tung was arrested while hiding in Chuong My district.

Earlier on the afternoon of October 31, people discovered Ms. Pham Thi H. (36 years old) lying on the floor, with many injuries from being stabbed in apartment building R4 (lobby B), Royal City apartment complex (Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi).

The Criminal Police Department has set up an investigation team to coordinate with Thanh Xuan District Police to organize a crime scene investigation.

The autopsy results determined that Ms. H. died from being stabbed multiple times with a sharp knife. After committing the crime, the perpetrator took a Vertu phone and an iPhone 7 from the victim.

The apartment building's security camera recorded the image of a young man entering and leaving Ms. H's apartment at the time of the incident. From there, the police searched for the suspect's traces.

After nearly 24 hours of active investigation, the police arrested Pham Thanh Tung. At the police station, Tung confessed that he had known Ms. H. through Facebook since June. On October 31, Tung went to Ms. H.'s house in the Royal City apartment building.

Because Tung gambled on football and lost 60 million VND. When he went to Ms. H's house to play, Tung had the intention of killing and robbing her.

On the afternoon of November 1, while Ms. H. was sitting on a chair, Tung rushed in, grabbed her by the neck, and stabbed her many times with a knife and scissors.

After committing the crime, Tung took 2 phones and 15 million VND from Ms. H. While on the run, Tung sold a Vertu phone for 65 million VND and an iPhone 7 for 8.5 million VND.

When arresting Tung, the police seized 38 million VND from Tung.

This suspect confessed to taking 54 million to pay off debts from football betting.

According to Tuoi Tre