Vietnam official's family found dead in suspected murder

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The wife and son of a government official in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province died on Monday in what appears to be a horrific homicide.

Bui Xuan Thuong, a senior official in the province's Chau Duc District, arrived at 4 p.m. on Monday to find his wife barely breathing on the first floor. The 48-year-old woman died from suffocation on the way to hospital.

His neighbors found the body of his son, 17, tied up in a pool of blood in the storehouse.

Forensic tests found the boy had been hit over the head.

A local said he saw a young man leaving the house on a motorbike at about that time. The motorbike was the only thing found missing from the 1,000 square-meter villa, which does not have security cameras.

Thuong has one daughter who is married and lives elsewhere, and another who is studying in Ho Chi Minh City.

Police are investigating further. A senior police officer said the case is “extremely serious”.

Vietnam reported 1.51 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in 2011, up from 1.25 in 2008, the New York Times reported in August, using a World Bank database that cites figures from the United Nations.

But that was still below the average of two per 100,000 people reported across the Asia-Pacific region in 2012, the closest year for which data was available, the Times said.

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