In the early hours of Sept. 3, Nguyen Duc Anh, 21, after being rejected by his former girlfriend, tried to break into her locked home. When he failed, he climbed onto the roof of the neighboring house of N.V.Q., 40, and stabbed the mother and two children, killing them while the father survived. During interrogation he insisted he did not know the family and had no prior conflict.

On Oct. 2, 2025, Le Sy Tung, 32, meticulously planned a robbery‑murder of a financially well‑off, isolated family in Dak Nhau Commune. He selected the target for its perceived wealth and remote location, positioned a military‑grade firearm 35 m away, shot three family members, disabled security cameras, entered the house, cracked the safe and fled. The Dong Nai Provincial People’s Court sentenced him to death, alongside convictions for robbery, property destruction and illegal use of military weapons.

In May 2024, Lau Vu Nhat Dang, 27, carried out a series of attacks on elderly women in Khanh Hoa Province, striking them with a metal pipe as they cycled or walked. None of the victims knew him, and police confirmed there was no prior dispute. He later admitted to five such assaults.

Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Hai notes that Vietnamese law does not count “no prior relationship” as an independent aggravating factor; sentencing depends on motive, preparation, weapon, victim count, and cruelty.

According to Article 123 of the Penal Code and Clause 4 of Article 4 of Resolution 04/2025/NQ‑HDTP, courts assess whether an act displays a “hooligan nature” and consider aggravating elements such as motive, pre‑meditation, weapon type, number of victims, and the brutality of the attack. The mere fact that the offender targeted a stranger can be evidence of motive, but it does not automatically elevate the crime to a higher sentencing bracket without additional aggravating circumstances.

The Dong Nai cases demonstrate that Vietnamese judges balance concrete factors—pre‑meditation, financial gain, use of military‑grade arms, multiple victims, and the cruelty of the attack—against statutory guidelines, rather than relying on the strangers‑to‑each‑other element alone.