Vietnamese man arrested in Khon Kaen for murder of his Vietnamese friend

Police arrested a Vietnamese man for the murder of his Vietnamese friend in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen. The suspect claimed he stabbed a fellow Vietnamese man to death because he tried to rape his wife.

A Vietnamese man, 37 year old Hoang Van Tang, was stabbed in the stomach in a rented room in Soi Suksanti 8 in the Mueang district of Khon Kaen at about 8.45pm on December 23. His injury was reported to a rescue team, and he was rushed to the Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University.

Hoang was in critical condition. The rescue team reported that the stabbing caused Hoang’s intestines to come out of his body and made him lose a lot of blood. The rescuers reported the incident to the Mueang Khon Kaen Police Station who later investigated the scene.

A Thai neighbour, identified only as M, told the police that a couple, a 34 year old Vietnamese man named Dang Don Lone and a Laotian woman, rented the room where the incident took place but disappeared from the scene.

M said he heard the sound of two men arguing in Vietnamese before everything went quiet. He only found out about the stabbing when the emergency services arrived and did not know who called the emergency services.

Officers checked security cameras and found that Dang and his Lao wife escaped the scene on a motorcycle. They were spotted on the Friendship Highway heading towards Udon Thani province. Officers believed that they would go to Nong Khai province to flee Thailand for Laos.

Attempted rape leads to murder

Police managed to stop the couple on their way to Laos. Dang confessed to stabbing Hoang who was once his friend. Dang said Hoang attempted to rape his wife several times, so he asked Hoang to meet him in a room to settle the matter.

They drank alcohol during the meeting and a physical altercation ensued. Dang said he stabbed Hoang once in the stomach and fled the scene with his wife. He said he wanted to apologise to the deceased’s relatives and that he had unintentionally killed Hoang out of jealousy.

Hoang’s family was not convinced by Dang’s confession. Hoang’s brother-in-law said Dang had abusive behaviour and always carried a knife with him. He did not believe that Hoang would try to rape Dang’s wife. The two may have argued while drinking alcohol, leading to the stabbing.

Dang faces an intentional murder charge which will result in the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment from 15 to 20 years.