Recently, the woman obsessed with “Falun Gong” killed and hid corpses, which shocked Vietnam, and now she was sentenced to death by the People’s Court of Binh Duong province. The other three people were sentenced to 22 years, 19 years, and 13 years’ imprisonment, respectively.
It is reported that because the murderer’s crime is very cruel, the case has been concerned in Vietnam.
The murderers were four female “Falun Gong” personnel, and the principal criminal was “post-80s generation”
According to Vietnamese media’s reports, the principal criminal in this case named Fan Shi Tianxia (hereinafter referred to as Fan), who was a female, was born in 1988 and a resident of Xinfu District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Fan graduated from a university in Ho Chi Minh City, and she once studied in Japan. After returning to Vietnam, she worked as a Japanese translator in a multinational company and she also opened a coffee shop once. However, she was finally bewitched by the cult “Falun Gong”.
Now, as the principal criminal in the dismembering and hiding case, she was sentenced to death.
The information about the other three offenders is as follows:
Li Yu Fangcao (hereinafter referred to as Li), a female, born in 1990, graduated from university, resident of Qianjiang province. Li was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for murder and 2 years’ imprisonment for the crime of failing to report, 22 years’ imprisonment in total.
Ruan Yu Xinxuan (hereinafter referred to as Ruan), female, born in 1979, and has a master’s degree and was once a university lecturer. Ruan was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for the crime of failing to report, 19 years in total.
Zheng Shi Honghua (hereinafter referred to as Zheng), female, born in 1953, is the mother of Fan. She was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for murder, and 1 year for the crime of failing to report, 13 years in total.
According to the media reports, the case was committed on May 15, 2019, and charged on April 23, 2020. On June 25, the People’s Court of Binh Duong Province, Vietnam, held a court session to hear the case of dismembering and hiding corpses.
In the trial, the prosecution accused that the case was organized crime. The four defendants discussed and determined the time and division of labor of the crime and took action against the victim. The defendant, Fan, a planner, and leader of the case, had no intention of repentance during the trial and had aggravated punishment.
The representatives of the People’s Committee of Binh Duong held that the four defendants’ acts were cruel and harmful to society, and there was sufficient information to prove the crime. The act of the gang violated the law, the public order, and good customs. The above acts of the gang showed that fanaticism and idolatry could lead to the brutal killing.
The court said on July 3 that the crimes of Fan and others seriously harmed the society. She planned criminal activities, prepared criminal tools, and killed the two people. Accordingly, the court decided to sentence the defendant Fan to death. The other three defendants were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 22 to 13 years.
In addition to the above penalty, the People’s Court of Binh Duong also forced the defendant Fan to pay more than 262 million Dong (monetary unit in Vietnam) to the family of the dead Chen Deling, and subsidized the maintenance of Chen Deling’s mother by 1.5 million Dong per month; the other three accomplices also paid more than 180 million Dong to the family members of the dead.
Terrible corpse hiding in cement barrel
The reason why this case has aroused strong concern in Vietnamese is that the four criminals involved in the case committed extremely cruel crimes, and they hid the two people in cement barrels after killing them.
According to Vietnamese media, the specific case is: on May 15, 2019, a homeowner in Honghe community, Baobang Industrial Zone, Binh Duong Province, found two large blue plastic buckets filled with concrete when he moved into his new house. He had it broken and removed, but it was shocking that there were two rotten bodies in the cement. He immediately called the police, and the case, which caused a sensation in Vietnam, was discovered.
After forensic identification, the police confirmed that the two dead were male, and through the inquiry of housing rental information, the criminal suspect was noticed.
Four female suspects were arrested on the night of May 17, 2019, when they were staying in a hotel in Tulongmu City, Binh Duong, about 50 km from the scene of the crime.
The police soon found out that this was a strange case related to the cult “Falun Gong”. Two male “Falun Gong” persons were killed by “fellow practitioners” as “demons” and cast into cement barrels.
Vietnam News reported on July 3, 2020, that the defendants were the cult members who practised Falun Gong.
The victim is also a cult member of “Falun Gong”
According to the indictment, Fan is the head of an eight-member group, all of whom are members of “Falun Gong”. The defendant gathered with two male victims and practised “Falun Gong” guided by Fan. In practice, the secret gang also fasted for 14 days and cut off contact with family members according to Fan’s request. The gang usually congregated in remote areas to avoid public views.
In July 2018, the gang rented a house in Baobang District, Binh Duong, and then since two female members left, they were afraid that the gang would be exposed. In September, they rented a house again at No. 90, Lane 5, Hamlet street, Honghe community, Baobang District, namely the place of crime.
On December 27, 2018, Fan took the rest five people to the Chuanmu area of Toudun port, a tourist resort, and rented a villa to practice “Falun Gong” collectively.
On the evening of January 20, 2019, Chen Deling tried to escape because he could not bear the strict training rules, such as fasting for many days. Fan and others arrested him and beat him, leading to Chen Deling’s death. Three days later (January 23), the gang took Chen Deling’s corpse to No.90 apartment mentioned above. Here, they turn on the low-temperature air conditioning and continued to practice, leaving Chen Deling’s corpse in the living room.
After a while, Fan found that Chen Zhiqing often sneaked out to eat in the middle of the night and violated other martial arts practice rules.
According to the testimony of the defendant, during the stay in Binh Duong, Chen Zhiqing secretly ate, masturbated, and attempted to have sexual relations with other members of the gang, so Fan negotiated with three other members to kill him. They bought generators.
On the afternoon of March 15, 2019, Fan strangled Chen Zhiqing with a rope after he was shocked by Li.
After killing Chen Zhiqing, Fan and other defendants still lived there. But the corpse began to stink. Fan instructed Li to buy two plastic containers (plastic buckets) online, then bought cement and stone, and hid the corpse in the concrete barrels.
On May 15, 2019, the corpses of Chen Deling and Chen Zhiqing were found. On May 17, Fan and others were controlled in a hotel 50 kilometers away from the scene of the crime.
When explaining why Chen Deling’s corpse was kept for several months, the defendant said that although Chen Deling had died, they still wanted him to be “resurrected”, so they put the corpse in an air-conditioned room.
In the trial, Fan admitted to the jury that she killed Chen Zhiqing because his “dark side” was being exposed. If he was alive, it would negatively affect the rest of the gang.
During the on-site inspection, the police seized the adult diapers used by the group during the training. Many of the people who came to the group had undergone strenuous training, including fasting, meditation, incredible personal activities, and other wonders, and they couldn’t bear to leave.
As for why the corpse was cast into the concrete barrels and hidden in the bedroom? The defendants said that they were not worried about killing or being found, but because the stench from the corpse affected their cultivation process and could not concentrate as they needed to be quiet and clean during the practice.
A talented woman who was proficient in three foreign languages was obsessed with evil cults and became a cold-blooded murderer
Fan was originally kind and loving, well-educated, and proficient in three foreign languages. She was also a successful businessman.
Fan was diligent and studious when she was a teenager, and she once studied in Japan. After returning to Vietnam from Japan in 2015, she worked in a multinational company as a translator (English, Chinese, and Japanese), and then opened a coffee shop. She can communicate in English, Japanese, and Chinese. But later, she began to practise “Falun Gong” with some people, and finally gave up everything she had, and became a cold-blooded murderer.
Fan in the cafe
Fan’s cafe is located in a prime location in District 10 of Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to selling coffee, the cafe also provides services such as photo-taking, Japanese dialogue, luminous tattoo, manicure, Tarot fortune-telling, etc., and holds parties and music performances.
From the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2017, her cafe was booming, attracting many people, especially young people. However, in mid-2017, she closed the store, gave up all her work, and devoted herself to practicing Falun Gong.
According to online data, on May 12, 2017, Fan participated in the Falun Gong parade in New York.
It is reported that around 2013, Fan contacted “Falun Gong” through social networking sites. She believed that practising “Falun Gong” could cure all kinds of diseases and go to heaven to avoid all the pain after death.
The principal criminal served as the local coordinator of the “Falun Gong” organization in Vietnam
After four years of practice, she served as the coordinator and counselor of “Falun Gong” organizations in the areas of Ho Chi Minh City, Yazhuang, and Dalat, and played an important role in the organization. She believed that she was a high-level practitioner, and all “fellow practitioners” must follow her instructions. Those who prevented her from practicing were considered “demons” and must be cleaned up.
The local “Falun Gong” organization first gathered in Yazhuang City, Qinghe Province, and then went to the common residence of Fan and her mother in Ho Chi Minh City. However, this period of living together made Zheng unhappy, so the organization moved to Ruan’s residence and continued to practice. At this time, Fan persuaded her mother Zheng to sell the house at the price of 2 billion Dong.
She bought a car, and subsidized and transported those who followed her “practice”. Fan told the police that she had borne all the expenses of the “Falun Gong” group from transportation to renting a house.
In Fan’s seven-seater car, police found 30 ounces of gold, 20000 dollars, and 300 million Dong ($13000) in cash.
Fan’s Facebook page was shared by many people after she was detained by police. On this website, she constantly uploaded and shared videos and pictures related to “Falun Gong”. Besides, she often published incomprehensible articles and introduced herself to her friends as “a practitioner”. The Facebook account was closed on May 19, 2019.
Fan in the eyes of family, neighbors, and friends
She was a good girl in her father’s eyes.
When the Court opened on June 26, Fan’s father, Fan Qiang, said he was deeply sorry for the crimes committed by his ex-wife, Zheng, and his daughter, Fan. He thought that he had a certain responsibility. If he had put forward more powerful suggestions when they were addicted to “Falun Gong”, it might not have happened today. “When I found out my daughter was practicing Falun Gong, I tried to persuade them again and again, but it didn’t help”, he said.
Cafe employee: she is a reader
In an interview with the Vietnamese newspaper Dat Viet, TL (pseudonym), an employee of the cafe, said it was shocking that the news and photos of Fan being arrested by the police were published in the newspaper on the morning of May 18, 2019.
When working in the cafe, TL often contacted her because she was always there, especially on opera days. At that time three years ago, she had a good time with the employees. TL said she was enthusiastic about customers and employees. She is a reader.
TL said that Fan dressed like a boy with short hair and never long hair. From the back, she is like a man.
Fan is proficient in English, can communicate in Japanese, and has the ability of Chinese translation.
According to Mrs. KM, a 31-year-old friend of Fan (from Xinping District, Ho Chi Minh City), everyone was shocked to hear that Fan was arrested because she often called on people to do charity on social networks. “I don’t understand why she was involved in this murder. But before that, everything was so good for her. About six years ago, she often appealed to netizens through social networks to donate and help a Japanese. The Japanese was in trouble and unfortunately entered a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City”. Also, a Ho Chi Minh City troupe named M was also heavily funded by Fan in the course of its operation, especially providing her cafe as the performance venue.
According to Mrs. KM, Fan is proficient in English, can communicate in Japanese, and can translate Chinese. But she finally chose the path of “cultivation”, and all this became meaningless.
For a while, Fan published videos and pictures related to a certain sect (Falun Gong) on Facebook and claimed to be a liar on her homepage. Fan often published puzzling articles and introduced herself to her friends as a “practitioner”.
The daughter took her mother to the evil road and sold the house
After knowing that the mother and daughter were involved in the shocking case, Zheng’s neighbors in Xinfu District of Ho Chi Minh City were shocked.
Neighbors described that Zheng was very gentle and had a good interpersonal relationship and never hurt others. Therefore, it is believed that her involvement in this case was probably caused by her daughter.
Vietnam net reported on June 26, 2020, that it was worth noting that there were many highly educated personnel in Fan’s group. Among the participants, there was a university teacher (Ruan, with a master’s degree). She abandoned her husband and children and joined Fan’s group. Besides, many people gave up their work and family to follow this practice group.
The victims are also obsessed with the cult “Falun Gong”
After the case, Mr. Chen, the younger brother of Chen Deling, one of the victims, told the media that Chen Deling was born in 1968 and had two children, and divorced his wife. From 1999 to 2014, Chen Deling went to Ukraine to work as a self-employed and had a clothing store. During his stay in Ukraine, Chen Deling came into contact with “Falun Gong”. After returning to Vietnam, Chen Deling continued to practice “Falun Gong” and taught it to others at home. Many of Chen Deling’s family members were also “Falun Gong” practitioners.
Mr. Chen said, “At that time, dozens of people were practicing” Falun Gong”. My wife and I were also studying. After a while, Chen Deling left home and went to another place. But dozens of people had been studying (here) Falun Gong here”.
Mr. Chen’s wife and Zheng were acquaintances, and they had a phone call a month before the crime. Zheng said: “Chen Deling’s practice is wrong.”
Chen Deling’s younger sister, Chen Shi e, said that Chen Delin was weak and ill after returning from abroad, so he practiced “Falun Gong” to relieve his illness. At the end of 2017, Fan came to Chen Deling’s home to practice together. Due to opposition from family members, Chen Deling sold his house and went to the south in February 2018. He lost contact with his family until being informed of his death.
Chen Zhiqing, born in 1992 in Nanding province of Vietnam, lived in Furun District of Ho Chi Minh City. According to his father, Chen Zhiqing left home a few years before the case, and no one in his family knew his whereabouts. According to the previous neighbor who lived there, he had no communication with Chen Zhiqing. He only heard that he had been practicing Dharma with the Shenmen people. The details were unknown, and then he disappeared. Until May 2019, it was learned from the newspaper that his body was buried in a concrete barrel.
Vietnam net said on June 26, 2020, according to the indictment, the defendant and two male victims gathered together to practice “Falun Gong” under the guidance of Fan.
