Man faces murder charge for strangling, stashing boy inside freezer

Nguyen Truong Giang, 25, was detained by Ha Nam police Sunday for behavior that may constitute a murder charge.

Giang said that at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, a 3-year-old neighboring boy had come to his milk tea store, rented from boy’s family. The boy drank a glass of milk tea, followed Giang into the kitchen for biscuits, then sat on his bed and ate.

Giang said he was annoyed that “the boy asked him to play multiple times,” so he threw a metal club at the boy, hitting his head. The boy fell to the floor and wailed. Giang tried to calm him down but failed, so he began to pin him to the ground.

When the boy screamed for his grandfather’s help, Giang used a shoelace to strangle him, placed him in a carton box and put it inside a freezer. He then locked the gate and rode his motorbike to Hanoi.

By that time, the boy’s grandfather, 65-year-old Nguyen Van Thuoc, was already searching for his grandson. Through security camera footage, he saw the boy enter Giang’s store but never come out. He tried to call Giang but failed, so he enlisted his neighbors to help him break into the store.

At around 5:50 p.m., the boy was found suffering respiratory failure, hypothermia and multiple injuries. He was taken to National Children’s Hospital in Hanoi for treatment and his condition has since stabilized.

Authorities said Giang was decommissioned from the military in 2020 and came to Hanoi to make a living. He then returned to his hometown Ha Nam to sell milk tea.