A Vietnamese man has been sentenced to death after robbing and murdering four people in a family in August.

Tan Lao Lo, 24, residing in Trinh Truong Commune, Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province, was given the capital punishment by the provincial People’s Court on Sunday after being convicted of robbery and murder.

Lo pleaded guilty to killing four family members in the neighborhood during his four-hour trial.

According to the indictment from the Lao Cai People’s Procuracy, the defendant met Tan Ta May, 22, as she was herding her buffalo on the evening of August 9.

He suddenly attacked the woman with a wooden baton and drowned her in a nearby pond before burying her body under a pile of rocks.

As he was hiding the corpse, Lo spotted Tan Mai Phuong, May’s two-year-old daughter, and Tan Thuy Chi, her six-year-old niece, walking past.

The murderer then tricked the two little girls into coming to a local stream and drowned them in order to silence the witnesses, before arriving at May’s house, where her youngest daughter, one-month-old Tan Thuy Van, was sleeping.

Lo killed Van in the same manner at the stream and placed some rocks on her body prior to taking away assets worth VND1.3 million (US$57.4) from the residence.

With a plant to move on to murder May’s husband in mind, Tan Ong Nai, who was working at his farm at the time, Lo set up a trap with an arquebus inside the kitchen and left the place.

Nai came into the house via the backdoor as he forgot his key and was able to duck the deadly trap.

After nearly a month of hiding, the killer was turned in to police officers by his family on September 4.

Lo was previously in a romantic relationship with May and also involved in several conflicts with the victim’s family.