The perpetrator who slit the throat of a motorbike taxi driver has been apprehended after a month on the run.
After failing to agree on a price, the motorbike taxi driver demanded to drop his regular customer off in the middle of a deserted field, leading to an argument. Angered, the driver pulled out a knife intending to attack, but the other driver disarmed him, stabbed him, and slashed his throat, resulting in his death.
Tha was arrested and extradited from the Kingdom of Cambodia to Vietnam on the afternoon of March 2nd. The victim in this murder case was Nguyen Van Lam, 42 years old, residing in Vi Thuy district, Hau Giang province, working as a motorbike taxi driver, and temporarily residing in Ta Loc hamlet, Son Kien commune (Hon Dat).
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| The suspect, Soc Tha, at the investigative agency. |
According to initial statements to the police, at around 9 PM on January 22, 2019, while on business and drinking at a friend's house near Bridge 283, National Highway 80, in Binh Thuan hamlet, Binh Son commune, Hon Dat district, Tha wanted to visit a friend's house in Kinh 2, My Thuan commune (Hon Dat), so he called Lam to pick him up. Although it was dark, Lam agreed because Tha was a regular customer.
When they met, they agreed on a price of 70,000 dong. Upon arrival, since her friend wasn't home, Tha asked Lam to take her somewhere else. When they reached the middle of the field, Lam demanded that Tha pay 170,000 dong for the previous leg of the journey, claiming that he had mistaken the price for daytime versus nighttime (70,000 dong during the day and 170,000 dong at night). Tha disagreed, so Lam stopped the car and threatened to abandon her in the middle of the field, leading to an argument and insults between the two.
Lam pulled a knife from his jacket pocket and attacked Tha. Tha dodged, grabbed the knife, and stabbed Lam. Then, Lam got into his car intending to flee, but was still cursing. Enraged, Tha ran after him with the knife and slit Lam's throat.
Seeing that the victim was dead, Tha pushed the body into the canal and took Lam's red and black Future motorbike with license plate 95C1-13055, heading towards Chau Doc to escape to Cambodia. Along the way, about 7 km past the Khanh An ferry, Tha unlocked the seat, causing the alarm to go off. Fearing exposure, Tha abandoned the motorbike and fled to Cambodia.
After more than a month on the run, at around 1:00 AM on March 2, 2019, Tha was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kien Giang Provincial Police in coordination with the Cambodian Police while he was gambling at the Crow Casino (near the Thai border) in PoiPet town, Ou Chrov district, Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia.
It is known that in 2011, Tha was sentenced to 7 years in prison for murder and had just been released, but now he has committed another crime.
