Police have arrested two suspects in connection with last week's triple stabbing in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. The arrests comes after a week-long manhunt.
Initial reports showed that on, August 6, Nguyen Quoc Tan, 21, was driving around on a motorbike with his friend, Nguyen Van Ut, 29. After turning down Cong Quynh street, in District 1, the pair nearly collided wtih another three men riding on two motorbikes.
A heated argument ensued and Hoang Dinh Hung, 27, one of the three men, took off his belt while other two - Nguyen Minh Duc, also 27, and Nguyen Chi Dung, 26 - took off their helmets and began striking Tan.
In the scuffle, Tan produced a knife and stabbed his attackers, he told the police.
Duc died from five stab wounds; Dung was felled by just two, while Hung survived his three wounds.
What happened next has remained a mystery until now.
When the police arrived at the scene, they had little to go on. Witnesses reported seeing two knives and various accounts differed on the make of the assailants' motorbike, police told a Thanh Nien reporter.
Onlookers also explained that this was not a gang-related knife fight and they did not believe that there was anything connecting the two parties in the crime.
Eyewitnesses did seem to agree that the first four digits of the knife wielder's liscense plate were 54Z7. For the last four, they could only provide one number.
Luckily, Hung woke up in the hospital and was able to give a physical description of both the motorbike as well as the man who had stabbed him.
They tracked down a motorbike in District 7, to Tan's nephew, who initially denied having loaned his bike to anyone, the night of the killing. After some questioning, the boy admitted that his uncle Tan was driving the bike on the night in question, police said.
According to the authorities, the two desperate men did their best to avoid capture.
After the deadly exchange, Tan drove Ut to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, where he threw the murder weapon into a garbage bin, the younger man told police.
Tan hid out in the adjacent Binh Duong province, while Ut fled to Dong Nai province.
According to police, Tan said he bought the knife that same day, along with some fruit, to share with his drinking buddies in District 7. He met Ut on his way back from the fruit shop; the latter had asked for ride to the Children's Hospital in District 1 to visit his child.
Police say the investigation is still underway.
