'Super Thief' Suffering from Schizophrenia

Le Hoang Duc (born in 1989) is the youngest of five children in a family residing in Dong Vinh Ward, Vinh City. Duc is unmarried but has a prior conviction and served six years in prison for robbery, and is currently serving a sentence for the same crime.

Duc used to work as a taxi driver, but then quit and went home.

Each time Duc was brought to trial, his mother attended the court sessions and sat there crying. Duc, however, showed little fear and remained quite calm when receiving his prison sentence, perhaps because he suffers from a type of schizophrenia.

According to the records, on the evening of November 14, 2016, Duc walked from his house to a row of rented rooms. There, seeing Ms. Hien's Yamaha Sirius motorbike parked in the middle of the room, Duc stole the motorbike and rode to a friend named Nhat's house to borrow tools to remove the license plate. Both of them then took the motorbike to Nam Dan and Tuong Duong districts with the intention of pawning it for money to spend, but no pawn shop would accept the motorbike.

The following evening, Duc surrendered to the Dong Vinh Ward Police and returned the vehicle. Subsequently, Duc was prosecuted by the Vinh City Police for "theft of property".

Defendant Le Hoang Duc. Photo: Khanh An

While Đức was out on bail awaiting trial for the aforementioned motorcycle theft, on the night of April 11, 2017, he rode his family's motorcycle through the streets of Vinh City, looking for vulnerable targets to steal. After driving through several streets, Đức rode the motorcycle into the Cẩm Lai Hotel (Lê Lợi Ward, Vinh City).

Here, Duc parked his motorbike in the garage and observed which guest rooms had their windows left open. He discovered a room on the second floor with the lights on but only the curtains drawn, the window not closed.

Knowing the hotel had security cameras, when entering, Duc pulled his baseball cap down and used his hands to try and cover his face to avoid the cameras.

The security guard asked, "Are you here to rent a room?" Duc replied, "I'm going up to my friend's room; he's already rented a room upstairs." Without any suspicion, the security guard invited Duc into the elevator.

Going upstairs, Duc observed the storage room and found nothing of value to steal. He then went to room 203 to listen and learned that someone was in the bathroom. Duc crept out to the back balcony and saw that the back door was unlocked, only the curtain was drawn. Lifting the curtain, Duc saw a man and a woman sleeping.

After a short wait, Duc climbed through the window into the room and stole two mobile phones, a Nokia 8800 gold and an iPhone 6S, an LC watch, and a wallet containing money and documents. Duc also took the car keys.

After stealing the items, Duc got on his motorbike and rode home. On the way back, he stopped, took out his Nokia 8800 gold phone, removed the SIM card, and threw it on the road. Inside the house, Duc hid the stolen items, changed his clothes, and took a motorbike taxi back to the hotel.

At this point, Duc noticed the security guard sitting in front of the lobby, so he went and sat on a stone bench. About 15 minutes later, the security guard went into the first floor. Duc pressed the key and saw the Toyota Fortuner's lights flashing, so he identified the car and got in, started the engine, and drove away.

After stealing the car, Duc drove around Vinh City until the next morning before returning to park it in the common area of ​​the Le Loi apartment building.

At 4:30 AM, the couple in room 203 woke up to find their belongings and car missing (total value 867,100,000 VND) and reported it to the authorities.

The Criminal Investigation Department for Social Order Crimes (PC45) of the Nghe An Provincial Police launched an investigation. Footage from the hotel's security cameras showed that during the night, Duc asked the security guard for permission to go to the second floor to meet a friend. Simultaneously, after screening "notorious" individuals who knew how to drive a car, Duc emerged as the most suspicious.

Sentence reduced due to schizophrenia

Police tracked down Duc and discovered he was wearing the watch the victim had reported missing from their hotel room. This led to his arrest. Duc did not sell any of the stolen items; he kept them all for himself. The authorities have recovered the stolen property and returned it to the victim.

The Toyota Fortuner was stolen by Duc. Photo by Khanh An.

During the investigation, the police discovered that Duc showed signs of mental illness and requested a forensic psychiatric examination. The Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry concluded: "Before, during the commission of the crime, and at the time of the examination, Duc suffered from a schizophrenia-type disorder. According to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition/1992, on mental and behavioral disorders, the disease has the code F21. During the commission of the crime and at the time of the examination, the disease was in an advanced stage, and the defendant lost the ability to perceive and control his behavior."

In late November 2017, Duc was tried in the first instance by the Vinh City People's Court and sentenced to 6 months in prison for theft. On the morning of December 25, 2017, Duc was again tried in the first instance by the Nghe An Provincial People's Court for theft.

The representative of the Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy requested the Trial Panel to sentence Duc to 7 to 7 years and 6 months in prison, as there was no lower sentence to propose.

The defendant's mother choked up again: "My parents are almost 70 years old, and one of Duc's brothers is bedridden, making our situation difficult. Duc is also sick. We want to ask the court to reduce his prison sentence so that when he returns home, his parents are still alive, and he and his siblings can support each other."

Duc remained silent, then I faintly heard him murmur, "Please, the court, be lenient."

The court ruled that the defendant's theft of a large amount of property violated Clause 4, Article 138 of the Penal Code, with a penalty range of 12 to 20 years or life imprisonment.

However, the panel of judges found that, although the nature and conduct of the defendant constituted a particularly serious crime, the defendant had several mitigating circumstances: after committing the crime, he confessed honestly, the stolen property was returned to the victim, and he had limited cognitive abilities and control over his actions (schizophrenia)... therefore, these factors were considered for a reduced sentence. Consequently, the first-instance court sentenced Duc to 7 years in prison for the crime of theft.