A man has been given capital punishment for robbing and murdering his co-worker in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018.

The municipal People’s Court on Wednesday sentenced Nguyen Hoang Phi, 24, who hails from the southern province of Binh Phuoc, to death for murder and robbery.

His accomplices, Nguyen Dien Tai and Tran Van Tu, both 21, each received an 18-year jail term for murder and robbery.

Tai and Tu were under 18 years old when they committed the offenses.

The fourth defendant, 19-year-old Vuong Minh Tuan, was condemned to one year and a half in prison for robbery but he was given a suspended sentence.

Tuan was under 16 years old when he committed the violation.

According to the indictment, Phi was an employee of a local security guard service company.

He was dispatched to Ngoc Chau Company along with Bui Van Dat and some other people from April 1, 2018.

On the evening of October 5 the same year, Phi and Dat were on duty during the same shift.

Phi then planned on robbing his co-worker and contacted Tai and Tu for their assistance.

The man waited until Dat went out for some errands and let his accomplices enter the place.

At around 9:30 pm that night, Dat was patrolling the venue when he was attacked and tied up by Tai and Tu.

The two also took the victim’s phone and VND1.5 million (US$65), while Phi was in charge of keeping watch.

As Dat screamed for help, Phi arrived and told the other two robbers to kill the victim to prevent him from reporting the case to police.

Despite Dat begging for mercy, the three strangled him to death with an electric wire.

They took Dat’s body to outlying Binh Chanh District and buried it at an empty land plot.

On November 15, 2018, Phi and Tuan stole Tai’s motorbike and sold it to Cambodia for some cash.

In the following month, Tai’s father discovered that Tuan was involved in the motorbike theft and took him to the local police station.

Tuan admitted his wrongdoing to officers, but went on to accuse Phi, Tai, and Tu of murdering and robbing Dat.

Police then launched an investigation into the case and found Dat’s body.

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