Police on Monday filed charges against two suspects in the killing last week of six members of a family in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Phuoc.

Nguyen Hai Duong and Vu Van Tien, both 24, were also subject to four months in custody on charges of murder and robbery, according to Le Duc Xuan, head of the provincial People’s Procuracy.

Duong and Tien allegedly broke into the villa of Le Van My, 46, a local wood processing magnate, on July 7 and killed him, his wife, daughter, son and two other relatives.

The two fled with around VND4 million (roughly US$200) and $100 in cash, five mobile phones and an iPad before they were arrested on Friday last week.

My’s youngest daughter, aged 18 months old, survived the shocking and horrible massacre, which Duong confessed to police stemmed from his hatred over a broken love affair with the man’s oldest daughter, Le Thi Anh Linh.

Duong and Linh, who was also killed in the crime, were once in a relationship, before the girl’s family requested that she break up with the man abruptly.

The suspect told police he began planning revenge by killing Linh’s whole family and stealing their assets in April this year, and had been well-prepared for the plot.

Suspect Nguyen Hai Duong. Photo: Tuoi Tre

When asking for Tien’s help, Duong only said the plan was to rob a rich family in Binh Phuoc, while concealing his murder plot.

Duong allegedly enticed 14-year-old Du Minh Vy, one of the two relatives of My at the house, to open the gate of the wood magnet’s villa to let them in.

Vy allegedly agreed to help the two suspects, allowing them to enter the villa and kill the six people. The alleged murderers butchered Vy immediately after crossing the gate, according to police.

The other five family members were killed after they refused to show the suspects where their assets were kept, Duong confessed to police officers.

The two fled the scene before the family’s housemaid arrived at 7:00 am and discovered the massacre.

Tien returned to a rented house he shared with Duong in the outlying district of Hoc Mon in Ho Chi Minh City, where police later found the tools purportedly used in the homicide, such as guns and knives.

Nguyen Hai Duong is escorted by police. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Binh Phuoc police said they have assigned three lawyers to defend the indicted suspects.

Lawyer Hoang Kim Vinh, chairman of the Binh Phuoc Bar Association, confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday he and two colleagues were tasked with protecting the rights and interests of Duong and Tien, starting Sunday.

The lawyers have attended an interrogation of the suspects, during which their confessions matched what police publicized at a press meeting on Saturday last week.

“If proven guilty, the two would be punished as per law, but our duty is to defend them,” Vinh said.

“We will focus on overseeing the interrogation and procedure to prevent wrongdoings and unfair sentences.”

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