8 defendants prosecuted in the case of torturing a 'junior' to death on suspicion of having an affair with his girlfriend

On August 16, 2019, Lam Dong Provincial Police announced that they had concluded the investigation and proposed that the People's Procuracy at the same level prosecute 8 subjects for murder, concealment of criminals, illegal possession of narcotics, and intentional infliction of injury or harm to the health of others. This case had shocked public opinion in Lam Dong province at the end of 2018.

At that time, Tran Quang Hien (born in 1978, residing on Nguyen Van Cu Street, Bao Loc City) thought that his "junior" Nguyen Duc Tho (born in 1987, residing in Dam Bri Commune, Bao Loc City) was "having an affair" with Hien's girlfriend Trinh Thi Ngoc (born in 2000, residing in Ward 2, Bao Loc City), so he called Tho to his house for interrogation. On the afternoon of December 6, 2018, Tho rode a motorbike to Hien's house. At this time, Hien's house also had Le Dang Quy (born in 1991), Le Hoang Anh Tuan (born in 1983) and Trinh Thi Ngoc.

As soon as Tho entered the house, Hien beat him with a rubber stick and interrogated him about having an affair with Ngoc, but Tho did not admit it. Le Hoang Anh Tuan and Le Dang Quy then continued to beat Tho. At around 7 p.m. the same day, Nguyen Vu Van (born in 1987) and Hau Phuong Duong (born in 1992) came to Hien's house. Here, Hien, Van, and Duong took turns torturing Tho.

Half an hour later, Chu Dinh Dat (born in 1992) came to Hien's house. When they discovered Tho was dead, Hien, Dat, Van and Duong put the victim's body in a sack with a handle. On the morning of December 7, 2018, Hien called Phan Thanh Nguyen (who rented land from Hien's house to use as a garden), asking Nguyen to rent a car to take Hien to Phan Thiet City (Binh Thuan).

When carrying Tho's body in a sack to the car, Nguyen wondered, Hien replied "it's furniture". Along the way, Nguyen continued to wonder, Hien said "it's a human body". Knowing Hien was a drug addict, Nguyen did not dare to resist.

When arriving at Daguri Pass, in Da Mi Commune, Ham Thuan Bac District (Binh Thuan), Hien asked Nguyen to stop the car, then lifted and pushed Tho's body down the cliff. Because he was haunted by the victim's body, the next day, Nguyen rode his motorbike down, found and dragged the victim's body to a flatter location, and used rocks to surround the sack containing Tho's body.

Just a few days later, the subjects related to the case were arrested one by one by Lam Dong Provincial Police in coordination with Bao Loc City Police.