Young woman leads cross-border 'hired killers' group

Overseas Vietnamese returning home slashed on the street

One day in early September 2022, the Criminal Police Department of Vinh City Police received information that Mr. Ma NV (born in 1964, Vietnamese American) was riding his friend's electric bicycle on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street when he was approached by a group of people on two motorbikes.

One of the group used a machete to seriously injure Mr. V’s left leg. After committing the crime, the group fled on a motorbike. The victim was taken to the hospital by local residents.

Upon receiving the information, the police force went directly to the hospital where Mr. V. was being treated to work. According to information from the victim, this person confirmed that he had no conflict with anyone. Determining the seriousness of the incident, Vinh City Police established a special project to concentrate forces and measures to fight, determined to quickly clarify the case and arrest the perpetrators.

Defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

During the investigation, the task force encountered many difficulties when the subjects actively removed the motorbike license plates, covered their faces with masks, and wore pants and long dresses to conceal their identities. On the other hand, the crime occurred late at night, making it difficult for the victims and witnesses to identify the perpetrators. However, through professional measures, the police were able to establish the suspects.

After the struggle, on September 21, 2022, Uong Sy Linh (born in 1997) and Nguyen Tu Phuoc (born in 2000), both residing in Nghi Phong commune, Nghi Loc district, turned themselves in to the police and admitted to participating in the incident of intentionally causing injury to Mr. V. The police issued an order to detain Nguyen Thi Van (born in 1985), Nguyen Thanh Hung (born in 2000) and Pham Duy Dat (born in 2000), all residing in Vinh city.

Among the subjects, Van was identified as the mastermind who hired the remaining subjects to commit the crime against the foreign man. From here, the criminal motives of the subjects were exposed.

Testimony of the "hired killer" group

Accordingly, Mr. V. knew a woman named Ha (currently living in the US). There was a conflict between the two about money. On September 8, 2022, after learning that Mr. V. returned to Vietnam to ask for his wife, Ha contacted Van to hire him to beat this man for a salary of 2,000 USD.

Van agreed but did not directly attack but hired Pham Thanh Hung to beat Mr. V. for 28.5 million VND. The two sides later met, Van showed Mr. V.'s photo to Hung for identification. The subjects went to Mr. V.'s house to commit the crime but discovered that there were cameras around so they did not dare to attack.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Van. Photo: Tran Vu

After that, Hung invited Linh and Dat to join in injuring foreigners. At around 8:00 p.m. on September 10, 2022, after learning that Mr. V. was preparing to go out for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Van informed the subjects. Upon receiving the news, the subjects drove each other on motorbikes, removed the license plates, and followed Mr. V.

At around 10pm the same day, discovering Mr. V. sitting behind the electric bicycle, Hung drove a motorbike carrying Dat and approached. Dat took a knife and slashed Mr. V.'s left leg, causing the victim to suffer 13% bodily injury.

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial to try the defendants: Nguyen Thi Van, Nguyen Thanh Hung, Pham Duy Dat, Uong Sy Linh and Nguyen Tu Phuoc for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury".

As the mastermind of the case, defendant Van said he knew Ha before and was hired by him to beat Mr. V. due to a debt dispute. After agreeing to accept the "hired beating" contract, Van hired Hung's group to beat the Vietnamese American. This defendant presented her difficult circumstances, having divorced her husband and currently raising two small children alone, to ask the court to consider reducing her sentence.

Defendant Hung admitted to the crime. He stated that he had no conflict with the victim, however, he agreed to “kill for hire” for money. In this case, defendant Hung was paid 9 million VND and spent it all on personal expenses. Defendant Dat, who directly slashed the victim’s leg, stated that he was paid 19.5 million VND. He spent all of that money on personal expenses.

The remaining defendants in the case claimed they had not received any compensation. Before the trial, defendants Hung, Phuoc, and Dat had pressured the victim’s family to compensate the victim 20 million VND.

At the trial, because the victim had returned to the US, he authorized another person to attend the trial. The victim's representative requested the court to try the defendants according to the law because the defendants' actions had affected Mr. V's health, life, and work. The victim's representative requested that the defendants pay a total compensation of 300 million VND.

The panel of judges determined that the defendants’ actions showed disregard for the law and caused disorder in the area, so they should be severely punished. However, it is also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendants, such as their honest confession and repentance.

Differentiating the roles of each defendant in the case, the court sentenced Nguyen Thi Van to 5 years in prison; Pham Duy Dat to 4 years and 6 months in prison; defendant Nguyen Thanh Hung to 3 years in prison; 2 defendants Uong Sy Linh and Nguyen Tu Phuoc were each sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison. In civil matters, the court ordered the defendants to compensate the victims more than 94 million VND.

The woman named Ha currently lives in the US. Authorities are continuing to investigate and clarify Ha's role in the case./.