The group of suspects admitted to raping and murdering a female student who delivered chicken during Tet.

On the afternoon of February 18, the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department coordinated with Dien Bien Provincial Police to provide information related to the murder of a female student delivering chicken during Tet.

To date, the investigation agency has prosecuted and detained 5 suspects for the crimes of: Murder, robbery, rape, illegal possession of drugs and illegal detention. They include: Vuong Van Hung, Bui Van Cong, Pham Van Nhiem, Luong Van Hung and Luong Van La, all residing in Dien Bien province.

5 suspects discussed killing the girl to cover up clues

According to the testimony of these 5 people, on February 1 (27th of Lunar New Year), Bui Van Cong proactively invited Vuong Van Hung to rob Cao My Duyen. The two agreed that Cong would take Hung to Muong Thanh market to identify the female student, then Hung would make a deal and arrange for the girl to deliver the chicken to the chosen place to rob.

Major General Sung A Hong, Director of Dien Bien Provincial Police, informed about the case. Photo:BC

About 4pmOn February 4 (the 30th of Tet), Hung went to the market to buy chickens to get acquainted and asked Duyen for her phone number. That evening, Hung called the 22-year-old female student to order 10 chickens and asked Duyen to take him to an abandoned house in the canal area of ​​Doc Lap hill (belonging to Team 11, Thanh Truong ward, Dien Bien Phu city).At this place, Hung used a nunchaku with an iron chain to strangle the victim until she was unconscious. After that, he took the girl to an abandoned house in Team 11 and called Cong to come.

Hearing his accomplices call, Cong invited Pham Van Nhiem to the abandoned house. According to the testimony, that night, the three defendants took turns raping the girl. After that, they put the victim in Cong's truck.

Hung confessed that he was the one who threw the victim’s pants on the side of the road. In addition, after robbing the girl, he took the victim’s motorbike and the chicken cage and threw them away to destroy the evidence.

On the morning of February 6 (the second day of Tet), Luong Van Hung and Luong Van La went to Bui Van Cong's house to visit. There, the two continued to take turns raping the victim right on the back of the homeowner's truck. That afternoon, the five suspects discussed killing the girl to cover up the evidence.

Late on February 6, Hung and Cong used a truck to transport the victim Cao My Duyen to Tong Khao cemetery, Thanh Nua commune, Dien Bien district. There, Cong used a baton with an iron chain to strangle the female university student to death. Immediately after, the two suspects took the body to an abandoned house in Team 11, Thanh Nua commune, Dien Bien district. Here, the five perverts together carried the body and left it at the scene. The next day, they continued to go to Cong's house to discuss how to escape the crime.

Exhumation to investigate new details

Previously, on the afternoon of February 4 (New Year's Eve), Duyen went missing while driving a motorbike carrying 13 chickens to sell to a man who bought them over the phone. Two days later, the victim's motorbike was found in Noong Luong commune, Dien Bien district - 20 km from where Duyen sold the goods.

On February 7, the girl’s body was discovered in an abandoned house in Thanh Nua commune, Dien Bien district, wearing only a shirt and underwear. The female student died from strangulation.

Immediately after the serious incident, the investigation team set up a list of nearly 1,000 people who had to be screened in Dien Bien Phu City and Dien Bien District. Police and border guards were ordered to block the border and national highways 12, 6, 279 and provincial roads in Dien Bien Province.

Vuong Van Hung (left) and Bui Van Cong. Photo:Hoang Trung

On February 12, suspect Vuong Van Hung was arrested. Hung was born in 1984, residing in Tan Thuy block, Tuan Giao district, Dien Bien province. This man has 3 criminal records, is homeless, and lives as a vagrant in Dien Bien Phu city and Dien Bien district.

The investigation agency said that Hung's testimony was fragmentary. According to the Director of Dien Bien Provincial Police, Hung only admitted to what the police had clear evidence for. Many of Hung's statements contradicted the results of the crime scene investigation and autopsy. It was not until three days later that the perpetrator revealed his accomplices.

In the article related to the case, Mr. Dao Trung Hieu - Criminology Expert, Ministry of Public Security paid special attention to the fact that the victim was found without pants. He said that if this was a simple murder - robbery case, the victim's clothes would be in their normal position. But if it was the remains of a sexual assault case, it would be very consistent with objective laws. Because in reality, almost no rapist is "kind" enough to put the victim's clothes back on after committing the act of forced sexual intercourse.

With the crime scene and the body in this case, Mr. Hieu believes there is a basis to think of another crime, which could very well be rape before the perpetrator murdered the victim.

Faced with new developments, on February 17, Dien Bien Provincial Police coordinated with the People's Procuracy of the same level and the Institute of Criminal Science of the Ministry of Public Security to exhume Cao My Duyen's body to collect evidence to clarify the case.

Female student Duyen before being murdered.

Many malicious and unscrupulous rumors

During the investigation of the case, the police had to repeatedly deny malicious rumors that angered the victim's family and the public. First, the press and social media said that Cao My Duyen's mother liked to show off her wealth on Facebook, so the suspect plotted to kidnap the victim to demand ransom. When the victim's mother refused the kidnappers' demands, the 22-year-old student was murdered.

Even after the investigation agency arrested Vuong Van Hung, some Facebook accounts still spread rumors that the suspect had a close relationship with the victim’s family. Rumors described Hung as having gone to prison on behalf of Cao My Duyen’s relatives. When released from prison, Hung did not demand damages, so he kidnapped the victim to demand ransom.

In addition, social networks also appeared false information saying that the victim's family had a conflict. The distorter questioned why the victim's father, Cao My Duyen, was never mentioned during the days the case was investigated. However, local police confirmed that the victim's father was a simple, honest person. In addition to growing longan, this man also raised pigs and chickens. He lived a private life and did not use social networks.