What is the relationship between suspect Ta Duy Khanh and the 17-year-old runner-up?

At the press conference on the afternoon of October 16, Major General Nguyen Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of Hanoi City Police, said that the Investigation Police Agency (IPA) had prosecuted the accused Ta Duy Khanh (born in 1985, from Kien Xuong, Thai Binh) for murder, related to the case of 17-year-old runner-up HNY (born in 2006, residing in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi) who was murdered, dismembered and dumped in the Red River.

According to the Deputy Director of Hanoi Police, Khanh has a wife and children, but does not live with the suspect. The suspect has been in a close relationship with the victim since early 2023. Whether Khanh had a romantic relationship with the victim or not is still being verified "because the victim is dead and Khanh said they only had a close relationship".

Through investigation, Hanoi police determined that Khanh lent the victim 50 million VND. He repeatedly asked for the money back but Ms. N. had not paid. On the evening of October 10, Khanh and the victim continued to talk about the debt, leading to a conflict.

According to Hanoi City Police, on October 10, Khanh asked Ms. N. to come to his house at an apartment in an urban area. There, the two had a conflict, Khanh took a sharp knife and stabbed the victim many times, causing her death. Khanh then used a knife to cut the girl's body into many parts and put them in a white styrofoam box. Khanh then called a taxi to take Khanh with the styrofoam box to Mieu Ban. After the taxi driver left, Khanh alone carried the styrofoam box containing Ms. N.'s body, threw part of it into the river and buried the other part on the edge of the Red River, then returned to the apartment.

Fearing discovery, in the early morning of October 13, Khanh returned alone to the location where N.'s body was hidden and poured cement over it to hide it, then went to the bus station to catch a bus to escape to Thai Binh. At around 11 p.m. on October 14, Khanh was arrested by the authorities. During the arrest, Khanh used a knife to injure himself, and the authorities took him to Thai Binh General Hospital for emergency treatment.

Major General Nguyen Thanh Tung assessed this as an especially serious case, the suspect killed someone and then dismembered the victim's body to hide the evidence, "causing difficulties for the investigation agency". The behavior of the suspect Ta Duy Khanh was "barbaric".

Determined to solve the case, Hanoi police contacted police from 63 provinces for support in finding the victim, and mobilized hundreds of police officers to solve the case. Once the victim's identity was determined, the investigation agency used a variety of technical measures, including criminal and chemical techniques, to narrow down the suspect and find the perpetrator.

Following the trail, the police reconstructed Ta Duy Khanh's escape route. Accordingly, after dumping the victim, Khanh went to Nuoc Ngam bus station to catch a bus straight to his house in Hong Thai commune, Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province.

There, the police persuaded and asked relatives to help persuade Khanh to surrender. However, the suspect used a knife to stab himself in the stomach and neck and hid under the bed to defend himself, but was subdued by the police and taken to the emergency room.