19 May 2003 :

Vu Van Tam, a 22-year-old unemployed Vietnamese man, was sentenced to death by firing squad after being convicted of murdering a schoolboy to steal his bicycle. Tam was handed the death sentence by a court in Haiphong for the murder of Do Van Tuan, 15, on April 8, 2003. It was alleged that Tam tied up his victim, strangled him and then forced his head under water in a reservoir at a local pumping station to ensure Tuan was dead. Police arrested him a few days after discovering the body.