Murder suspect confesses to killing mother, wife, and 2 children to ‘free them from poverty’

Vu Van Vuong, 52, was apprehended at Lien Tri Pagoda in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province in southern Vietnam on Saturday and is being escorted to Hanoi for further investigation.

Initial investigations revealed that at around 10 a.m. on Jan. 15, at his home in Hanoi’s Phu Xuyen District, Vuong used a pestle to kill his 19-year-old daughter and hid her body under the bed. At noon, when his 17-year-old son returned home, he murdered him as well.

Later that evening, at 11 p.m., Vuong killed his 50-year-old wife when she came home from work. He placed the bodies of his wife and two children under the bed in the bedroom, lying them next to each other.

At about 1 a.m. on Jan. 16, Vuong turned to his 78-year-old bedridden mother, who had been ill for a long time, and killed her.

After committing the murders, he wrote a suicide note and attempted to end his life by ingesting sleeping pills, but the attempt failed.

On the afternoon of Jan. 16, Vuong fled Hanoi by bus, traveling to Da Nang in central Vietnam before continuing to Ba Ria – Vung Tau. He then hired a motorbike taxi to take him to Lien Tri Pagoda, where he claimed to pray for the souls of his family.

Vuong stated that his motive was to “free them from the struggles of poverty”. According to the police, he exhibited signs of depression and abnormal psychological behavior. A rapid drug test returned negative.

At around 2 p.m. on Jan. 17, Vuong’s elder sister, unable to contact her niece, visited the house and found their elderly mother dead on the bed. She subsequently discovered the bodies of Vuong’s wife and two children.

Local residents described Vuong and his wife as freelance laborers living in a small, one-story house. The couple had three children, with their eldest daughter working far from home. Neighbors reported they had not noticed any prior conflicts or unusual signs within the family.