Ms. Cao, born in 1973, lived year-round in her rural hometown in Tan Hoang town, Shijiazhuang city, Hebei province. She cared for her 80-year-old mother-in-law, who was paralyzed on one side, and worked in the fields. Her husband worked in a neighboring district, and her only son, Dien, worked in Shijiazhuang. The two men typically contacted Ms. Cao once a week and returned home once a month.
Unusual signs
On 16/9/2025, Dien received a photo of his mother's ID card via WeChat, asking him to register for online health insurance. Busy with work, Dien could not fulfill his mother's request immediately. On the evening of 19/9, Dien called his mother, but no one answered, leading him to think she was busy. However, a few days later, when he tried to contact his mother, Dien noticed something amiss.
Each time he initiated a message, she seemed impatient, giving terse replies like: "What's wrong?", "What is it?". She also took a long time to respond. Ms. Cao usually sent voice messages but now only sent text messages. Whenever Dien made a video call or phone call, she immediately hung up and messaged back, "cannot talk now".
On 2/10/2025, Dien called his mother. The call connected briefly, but she said nothing and immediately hung up. On 4/10, sensing something was wrong, Dien messaged that he would visit his mother. She sent him a video filmed in a hospital, stating that a close friend was ill and needed her care for a few days, so she had no time to meet him.
"At that time, I thought someone was controlling my mother, perhaps she had been lured into a multi-level marketing scheme or kidnapped", Dien said. Dien asked his mother a few questions via WeChat, but her answers did not match. On the same day, 4/10, Dien went to the local police station to report the incident.
"After understanding the situation, the police advised me to report directly to the criminal investigation unit. The criminal unit then immediately launched an investigation, working continuously until 3h the next morning", Dien recounted.
On 5/10, Dien and his father were informed by the police that Ms. Cao had been murdered, and a 52-year-old suspect, Trieu, had been arrested. The victim's body was also found. Dien stated his mother was murdered three days after sending him the ID photo, and the person communicating with him on WeChat since then was the suspect.
Crime committed after rejected advances
Dien explained that after Trieu's arrest, the police showed him and his father photos and asked them to identify the man. "Neither my father nor I knew him. We work away from home all year, and only my mother stayed at home to care for my elderly grandmother", Dien said.
Later, Dien learned that Trieu was a home repairman living in a neighboring village. In 2024, when Dien's family home in the countryside needed repairs, Trieu was hired to install electricity and plumbing. Trieu befriended Ms. Cao on WeChat at that time and frequently messaged her.
According to his confession, on the evening of 18/9/2025, Trieu invited Ms. Cao to dinner and drove to pick her up. After eating, he took Ms. Cao to a peanut field, claiming: "My family had a bumper harvest of peanuts, so I wanted to share some with you". After harvesting the peanuts, the two got into the car to rest until past midnight.
In the early hours of 19/9, Trieu drove Ms. Cao to a deserted road near the district's crematorium, where he sexually assaulted her with the intention of having sexual relations, but she refused. Ms. Cao angrily scolded Trieu and threatened to call the police. Fearing exposure, Trieu decided to kill her. As he prepared to bury the body, Trieu noticed Ms. Cao's abdomen still rising and falling, indicating she was still breathing, so he strangled her a second time, determined to silence her permanently.
He then dumped Ms. Cao's body into a shallow ditch near the cemetery, covered it with grass, and fled the scene.
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Dien points to the patch of grass in the wasteland where Ms. Cao's body was buried. *Photo: Xiaoxiang* |
After committing the crime, Trieu sold the victim's jewelry for over 9.000 yuan, used Ms. Cao's mobile phone to apply for online loans, and even used her WeChat account to impersonate her in conversations with her family, concealing her murder.
Dien explained that his paternal grandparents had three sons and one daughter. His paternal grandfather had passed away years ago, and his elderly grandmother was cared for weekly by her daughters-in-law and daughter on a rotating basis. Before her murder, Ms. Cao had handed over her care duties for her mother-in-law to her sister-in-law, which is why her disappearance went unnoticed for many days. During that time, the sister-in-law messaged several times, but Trieu, impersonating Ms. Cao, gave various excuses to avoid meeting.
Dien expressed deep regret for not discovering the situation sooner and visiting his mother.
This was not Trieu's first offense. He had previously received a 1-year suspended sentence and a fine of 6.000 yuan for theft in June 2003. This time, Trieu was criminally detained on 5/10/2025 on suspicion of murder, and the People's Procuratorate approved his arrest on 16/10/2025.
The Shijiazhuang City Public Security Bureau completed the investigation and transferred the case file to the City People's Procuratorate for Trieu's prosecution on charges of intentional homicide.
Dien stated that his family did not require any compensation from the perpetrator, only wishing for him to receive severe punishment.
By Tue Anh (according to Xiaoxiang Morning News, Jimu News)
