ĐIỆN BIÊN — Two middle-aged victims, a husband and wife, were found dead in their home of gun wounds to the head early this morning in the northern city of Điện Biên Phủ.

The culprit committed suicide after the murders, police said.

Through examination of security camera footage, police determined that the criminal is a local drug addict who has already been on their watch list.

A witness, Phạm Văn Cường, a resident of the Mường Thanh Ward, where the incident took place, told the police he heard gun shots in his immediate neighbourhood at around 7am.

“When I went out to inspect the situation, I saw the woman lying dead right at the front door. Other people came inside the house and saw two other men, one already dead while the other was still alive and was then rushed to the hospital,” Cường said.

Trịnh Xuân Quý, head of the neighbourhood, said two of the victims are husband and wife – Nguyễn Tuấn Vụ, born in 1962, former director-general of Điện Biên beer factory and Nguyễn Thị Lý, born in 1965, who sold lottery tickets at home. The hospitalised man was later identified as the murderer, Phạm Quang Sỏi, 1964.

Major General Sùng A Hồng, head of the provincial public security forces, confirmed with Vietnam News Agency that a military-grade CKC gun was recovered at the scene.

The gunshot wounds to the heads of the three dead people showed the “reckless brazenness” of the shooter, he added, stressing that all concerned authorities will focus resources to handle this “particularly heinous criminal case.”

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, chairman of Mường Thanh Ward People’s Committee, said the neighbours all said the couple were “sociable and on friendly terms with everyone.”

They had two children who were currently studying in Hà Nội.

The murderer is not a relative of the couple, but the relationship between them is still being investigated by the police. — VNS