Police in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City have arrested a man who allegedly killed a young woman for asset appropriation, then concealed her dismembered body in a bag and disposed of it far away from the scene to hide the traces of the crime.

The suspect, N.D.K., 26, was detained in Binh Dinh Province, south-central Vietnam on Tuesday, six days after he allegedly killed V.T.T., 25, at a rented room in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City, local police reported.

K., who resided in the same motel with the victim, a worker of Thu Duc-based Coats Phong Phu Co., Ltd., has been escorted to the city for investigation of murder, robbery, and other possible crimes.  

The suspect has pleaded guilty of killing T., according to investigators.

V.V.T. was seen from a surveillance camera at the gate of the motel in Thu Duc City under southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on February 8, 2024 before she was killed later on the same day. Photo: V.V.T.’s family

Earlier on February 8, while T. was preparing her luggage in her rented room for a trip back to her native Dong Nai Province for Tet (Lunar New Year) celebration, K. asked her to come to his place to help him carry his baggage as he was about to return home for Tet, according to the man’s testimonies. 

After T. entered his room, K. used a weapon to kill her and then had sex with her body. 

He took away from the victim a cellphone and some other assets, and used a knife to dismember the young woman’s body into parts and packed them in a bag.

He later brought the bag to a deserted path in the Saigon Hi-tech Park, some 4km from the motel, and disposed of it there before fleeing to Binh Dinh, the native province of his wife, for hiding until being arrested.

The bag was later discovered on Tuesday morning by local residents who reported the finding to police, according to news site VnExpress. 

K. told investigators that he had feelings for T., who shared her room with her lover but her man returned to Phu Yen Province, his hometown, a month before, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

A place in the area of the Hi-tech Saigon Park, in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, where the bag containing the dismembered body of V.V.T., who was killed on February 8, 2024 in a local motel, was discovered on February 13, 2024. Photo: Minh Tam / Tuoi Tre

On the aforementioned day, after finding that the motel very quiet as most people had left for their hometowns, he came to an idea to rape T., so he pretended to ask her to come to his room for that purpose.

Before the time of being killed, T. called her family, saying she was preparing to go home, but her family and her lover could not contact her later. 

On February 9 morning, T.’s lover had someone come to the motel to look for her but could not find her after breaking open the door of her room that had been locked from outside.

At noon the same day, T.’s relatives also came to the room, where they saw her motorbike but could not find the vehicle key as well as her cellphone and her backpack.

They reported her disappearance to local police, who immediately examined the motel, checked surveillance cameras and identified K. as a suspect.

A hunt for K. was launched later, leading to his arrest in Binh Dinh.

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