Burned down neighbor's house for not paying back borrowed money

On August 13, the Investigation Police Department of Da Nang City Police detained Nong (residing in Hoa Minh ward, Lien Chieu district) for the act ofKilling.

Nong was summoned after the police extracted camera data around the scene and discovered images with characteristics similar to Nong's clothes and vehicle used to go to work every day. Nong was a neighbor near the victim's house.

Suspect Nguyen Van Nong. Photo:Nam Em

At the police station, Nong confessed that since the end of 2020, he had lent his neighbor Nam on Bau Nang 11 Street, Hoa Minh Ward, 60 million VND to complete the paperwork for a piece of land. Mr. Nam promised to pay him back immediately, so Nong lent him the money he was saving to build a house.

However, Mr. Nam only paid Nong 10 million VND and then tried to avoid him. Every time Nong went to Mr. Nam’s house to collect the debt, he was sent home. Feeling resentful for a long time, this person texted him threatening to burn down the house and kill Mr. Nam’s whole family.

Nong bought a mini gas welding set and stored it at home, and prepared a plastic can to put in his attic. Every week, Nong bought gasoline and filled the can with about 7 liters of storage gas. He also carefully surveyed his neighbor's house.

At about 2:00 a.m. on August 10, Nong rode his motorbike to Mr. Nam's house and used a welder to punch a hole in the iron door behind the house to insert a gas pipe.

Nong then returned home, covered the plastic can containing gasoline with a T-shirt, drove it to Mr. Nam's house, used a homemade plastic pipe to pour all the gasoline into it through the hole he had drilled, lit it on fire at 3 a.m., and then rode his motorbike home.

Mr. Nam's wife woke up to go to the bathroom at the exact moment Nong started the fire, so she shouted for the other three people in the house to escape. The fire was brought under control. The victim suspected arson, so she extracted the camera footage and reported it to the police.