Victim was poured concrete suspected of jumping off building to escape before dying

After 4 days of being arrested, Pham Thi Thien Ha (31 years old, from Ho Chi Minh City) and 3 accomplices confessed that the victim Tran Duc Linh (50 years old, from Nghe An) jumped from a building to escape from a "retreat" in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, not committing suicide.

In December 2018, Ha's group of 6 people, including Mr. Linh and Tran Tri Thanh (26 years old, from Ho Chi Minh City) as the 2 male members, went to Xuyen Moc district to rent a villa to "train hard" together.

Here, Ha imposed very harsh living rules, forcing everyone to "lock themselves up". After 10 days of not eating or drinking, Mr. Linh could not bear it anymore and jumped from the first floor to escape. Seeing that a member was injured, Ha and Thanh did not take him to the hospital but helped him into the room. When the victim died, they turned on the air conditioner at a low temperature to preserve him.

A week later, the group brought the victim’s body back to the house in Hung Hoa commune, Bau Bang district, which they had rented two months earlier. Thanh bought items to embalm the body, then put it in a plastic barrel and poured cement outside to prevent the stench.

The next time, Thanh showed signs of obsession with the plastic bin in the room and did not live according to the rules, making Ha angry. The female suspect locked the young man in the room without food or water to "repent". But then, thinking that he could not improve and was "overpowered by the devil", the group planned to kill him.

Ha took Thao to buy 6 electric guns but did not use them because they were "ineffective". Thao was then sent to Thu Dau Mot City to buy batteries and electric shockers, then pretended to perform acupuncture and then injected Thanh unconscious. Ha used a rope to strangle the victim to death. During the crime, Ha's hand was injured.

The group left the body in the room and continued to live normally. Three days later, when the deathly aura rose, they bought plastic tubs, cement... to dispose of the body.

Mr. Linh's family went to Binh Duong to receive the body after the DNA test results were available. Relatives said that Mr. Linh had gone to work abroad and practiced a "strange cult" until he returned home. At the end of 2017, Ha went to Nghe An to open a "religion course" with Mr. Linh but was not approved by the government.

Early last year, Mr. Linh sold his house and moved to Khanh Hoa to join Ha's group. Since then, he has had very little contact with his family. In early May, a relative received a text message from an unknown number saying "Mr. Linh has gone the wrong way" but they were unable to contact him.

The case of two bodies in two plastic tubs was discovered on May 15 when a man came to clean up a house he had just bought in Hung Hoa commune. Three days later, Ha and his accomplices were arrested at a hotel in Thu Dau Mot city, more than 50 km from the scene.

Before moving to Hung Hoa commune, Ha's group rented a house on D2 street, Bau Bang Industrial Park, to live. However, two other female members escaped because they could not stand the miserable life. Fearing exposure, Ha led the group to a new location.

Binh Duong police have initiated the case.Killing,Ha was detained along with Trinh Thi Hong Hoa (66 years old, Ha's mother, both from Ho Chi Minh City), Nguyen Ngoc Tam Huyen (40 years old, from Ho Chi Minh City) and Le Ngoc Phuong Thao (29 years old, from Tien Giang).

On May 20, the Binh Duong People's Committee awarded and presented certificates of merit to hotel staff and residential area managers for reporting and assisting the police in arresting four suspects on the morning of May 18. The task force was also awarded VND100 million.