Vietnamese kidnapped for ransom and murdered in Taiwan

According to the newspaperTaipei TimesLast weekend, Taiwanese authorities arrested four Vietnamese and one Taiwanese accused of kidnapping for ransom and murdering a Vietnamese man surnamed Vu.

The arrested Vietnamese suspects include three men surnamed Le, Hoang, Vu and a woman surnamed Nguyen. The Taiwanese suspect was identified as Hua.

In a statement, prosecutors said the man, surnamed Le, and the woman, surnamed Nguyen, began planning to kidnap the victim, surnamed Vu, for ransom last month, after the woman met him online.

Knowing the victim's family's financial information, the two devised a plan to have the woman persuade the victim to travel from Taoyuan, Taiwan, to another location.

After the victim arrived, the man surnamed Le and others forced him into a car and took him to a worker's housing complex.

The suspects then video called the victim's father in Vietnam to demand a ransom of 200 million VND.

However, after receiving the money, these people continued to hold the victim with the intention of extorting more money from the family.

Fearing that the victim would cry for help, the group stuffed a towel into his mouth and used tape to wrap around his eyes, mouth, and nose, causing his death. The suspects then buried the victim’s body at a sugarcane farm.

After being arrested, these people led investigators to the place where the victim's body was buried. Authorities then took fingerprints and performed an autopsy.