Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community.

The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

According to the verdict, Bich initially bought cyanide to take her own life during a period of marital conflict. Instead, prosecutors said, she slipped the poison into one of her husband Nguyen Thoai Thanh The’s stomach-medicine tablets on Jan. 5, 2023. He repeatedly fell ill and died in October 2023 after months of hospital visits.

After his death, Bich began a relationship with another man, accumulated debt and clashed with her younger sister. Investigators said resentment toward her siblings drove her to target their children.

On Jan. 1, 2024, Bich laced a plastic cup with cyanide and mixed it with water, persuading her 6-year-old niece to drink it. The girl died a day later. In May, she poisoned her 13-year-old nephew by putting cyanide in his water bottle as he played games; he died despite being rushed to hospital.

Her final attempt came on June 22, when she tricked her 18-year-old nephew into drinking "acne medicine" tainted with cyanide. He collapsed but survived after doctors discovered the toxin in his stomach and alerted the family, a moment investigators say finally unraveled the string of deaths.

Throughout the trial, Bich admitted the poisonings and called her actions "inhumane," though she insisted her husband died of illness because he passed away months after the first poisoning attempt.

She also confirmed she had purchased insurance for her husband and children years earlier and received payouts after their deaths.

The victims’ families, who initially believed they were suffering a streak of tragic "bad luck," asked the court to impose the harshest penalty.

Judges ruled Bich had shown "no capacity for rehabilitation" and ordered her removed from society permanently. She was also required to pay VND300 million ($12,000) to cover the 18-year-old nephew's medical treatment.

In her final words, Bich broke down, apologizing to her siblings and pleading for a chance to see her 10-year-old daughter one last time.

Source: e.vnexpress.net, Phuoc Tuan, November 27, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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