Cyanide poisoning suspect receives $800 million in insurance after husband dies

On July 8, Lieutenant Colonel Vo Nhat Hong Phuc - Head of the Criminal Police Department, Dong Nai Provincial Police - said that, related to the cyanide poisoning case in the area, so far, suspect Nguyen Thi Hong Bich (38 years old, residing in Vinh Thanh commune, Nhon Trach district) has initially confessed and asked to confess to receive leniency from the law.

Cruel revenge plan

Nguyen Thi Hong Bich confessed that due to conflicts with family members, she had the intention of revenge by poisoning her husband and two nephews, causing them to die. The third nephew, NHBT (18 years old), was out of danger after being treated at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Bich lives with her brother and his wife in Vinh Thanh commune, Nhon Trach district. Last June, Bich and her sister-in-law had a conflict in their daily life. After that, Bich came up with a plan to poison NHBT to take revenge.

On June 22, Bich showed concern about T.'s skin having many pimples. Bich told T. that she had previously had acne problems and had improved by taking liver detoxification medicine, so Bich offered to buy medicine for T. to take if he needed it.

When T. agreed, Bich went to buy and poured out the powder inside the capsule, replaced it with cyanide and gave it to T. to drink.

Afterwards, T. fell into a coma and lost consciousness, but fortunately, his family discovered him and took him to Le Van Thinh Hospital (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) for timely emergency treatment. During the treatment process, test results showed that T.'s blood contained cyanide.

Suspecting that someone had poisoned him, on June 24, Mr. TVB (45 years old, a relative of T.) filed a complaint with the authorities. In addition to T.'s case, Mr. B. also provided information about 5 other relatives in the family who died unexpectedly within the past year.

Killed husband and 2 nephews with cyanide

Upon receiving the report, Dong Nai Provincial Police began an investigation and on July 5, prosecuted and temporarily detained Nguyen Thi Hong Bich for murder.

At the police station, Bich confessed that from October 2023 to June 2024, in addition to T., this woman also used cyanide to poison 3 other relatives in the family, her husband and 2 nephews. All 3 of these people died.

According to her testimony, in October 2023, Bich opened a cabinet in the bathroom, took out a bottle of cyanide, and put it in a capsule. Then, Bich put the capsule back in her husband's medicine bag.

"At noon, I saw with my own eyes my husband take a pill containing cyanide" - Bich calmly told the police.

Based on Bich's testimony, the authorities searched her residence and seized some related evidence. In addition, Bich also pointed out where she hid a plastic bottle weighing about 0.7 kg in a cemetery near her house. The police determined that the ingredient inside the plastic bottle was the extremely toxic substance potassium cyanide.

During the investigation, Bich confessed to having debts. After her husband and child died, Bich received 800 million VND in insurance money. Bich used this money to pay off debts and for personal expenses.

The police determined that this was only the initial statement and were continuing to clarify the suspect's motive and purpose for committing the crime.