Factory worker sentenced to death for murdering coffee shop owner during robbery in Vietnam

Tran Van Quy, from Cai Doi Vam Commune, southern Ca Mau Province, was convicted of murder at a first-instance trial held by the Tay Ninh People’s Court on Wednesday.

According to the indictment, Quy had been living with his wife’s parents in Tay Ninh while working as a factory laborer.

Mounting debts and financial difficulties drove him to plan a robbery.

At around 9:00 am on July 12, 2025, Quy bought a knife and sleeping pills, mixed the pills into a bottle of water, and partially covered his motorcycle’s license plate with black tape before searching for a target.

Quy initially intended to drug a friend and rob him, but later abandoned the idea for fear of being discovered.

He then shifted his focus to drink stall owners at the roadside.

At around 2:00 pm the same day, Quy entered a hammock coffee shop along National Route 1 in Long An Ward, Tay Ninh, ordered a drink, and waited for an opportunity to rob the owner.

He noticed security cameras near the cashier area, realizing the woman was alone in the shop.

About an hour later, Quy went to the restroom at the back of the shop and deliberately left a wallet there.

He then lied to the owner that someone had dropped a wallet in the restroom.

When the woman went to check, Quy repeatedly attacked her with a knife until she collapsed.

Quy stole the victim’s earrings, cut off the shop’s electricity to disable the cameras, and searched the premises for valuables, before taking a mobile phone and several tens of thousands of dong in cash.

He later sold the earrings and phone for nearly VND2.7 million (US$103) before returning to his wife’s family home.

Police arrested him later that afternoon while he was at work.

The trial panel described Quy’s actions as 'particularly dangerous,' saying he had pursued the crime to the end and taken another person’s life for personal gain, leaving no possibility for rehabilitation.

In addition to the death sentence for murder, the court also sentenced Quy to four years in prison for robbery.

Under Vietnamese law, the combined sentence remained the death penalty.