Man captured for allegedly killing car owner, burying body to hide crime

The suspected killer is Kieu Quoc Huy, 27, of the north-central province of Ha Tinh, who was captured on Tuesday while hiding in the province’s Bao Loc City, police officers said.

The murder was uncovered on August 30 when a goat raiser found two human feet emerging from the ground at a landfill site in Lam Dong’s Bao Lam District.

He reported it to police, who then discovered a man’s body in decomposition state.

The victim was later identified as Hoang The Vinh, 35, of Dak Lak Province, also in the Central Highlands region, police officers said.

Vinh had been given four stabs in the neck and chest, and suffered a wound near the top of his head, police said.

His relatives told police officers that Vinh drove his seven-seater Toyota Innova car from Dak Lak to Bao Loc on August 22 and had not returned since.

Vinh’s relatives could not contact him via the phone, they said.

The car is worth about VND850 million (US$37,800), Vinh’s family told police.

Police officers launched an investigation and then arrested Huy at 3:00 pm on September 1 in a house in Bao Loc.

At that time, Vinh’s car was parked in front of the house.

On searching Huy and his residence, police seized six mobile phones including one he had taken from Vinh.

Police also confiscated five military guns and two sports guns, along with a large volume of ammunition.

After being questioned, Huy yesterday admitted to killing Vinh, stealing the car, and burying his body to remove the crime traces.

The suspect told police that he hired Vinh to drive him from Dak Lak to Bao Loc on August 16 at a cost of VND1.5 million.

When reaching the destination, Huy asked Vinh to allow him to delay paying the fare, promising that he would later call Vinh to drive him back to Dak Lak.

On August 22, Huy called Vinh to come to Bao Loc to drive him back to Dak Lak, and on this trip, Huy killed Vinh, robbing him of the car and burying the victim.

Believing that his crime would never be detected, Huy used the car as his own and boasted to his relatives that he had bought it for VND650 million ($28,900), he told investigators.

Police are further investigating the murder.