Game addict held in Hanoi taxi driver’s murder

Hanoi police said they are investigating Nguyen Canh An for last month’s murder of a taxi driver near the My Dinh Stadium.

He was arrested on February 3 while playing video games at an internet service shop in Hoa Binh Province, around 90 kilometers southwest of Hanoi.

Investigators say An, a native of the central province of Nghe An, is an online game addict. Two months before, he left home for Hanoi to find a job. When he ran out of money, he planned a robbery.

On January 29, An took a taxi from a bus stop to the My Dinh National Stadium.

As they reached the destination, he took a knife and attacked the driver from the back seat, slashing his throat. Some reports say he then panicked and left the scene without taking anything.

Nguyen Canh An, 20, will be charged with murder. Photo by VnExpress/Phuong Son

Eyewitnesses said they saw the 26-year-old victim, Nguyen Van Duy, getting out of the taxi and screaming for help. He collapsed soon after and died of severe blood loss.

From eyewitnesses’ testimony and camera footage, police officers tracked down the suspect and detained An five days later. He reportedly told the police that he had attacked the taxi driver to steal from him.

Murder is punishable by death under Vietnam’s Penal Code.

Around 32.8 million people, more than a third of Vietnam's population, play online games in Vietnam, according to a survey conducted in 2017 by the Amsterdam-based Newzoo.