[bloodrayne]

Vietnam To Try Female Serial Killer

HANOI: Vietnam is set to try a 48-year-old woman who confessed to poisoning 13 people in what might be the country's first prosecution of a serial killer.

Le Thanh Van, who will face a court on August 24, told police she used cyanide to murder her victims – who included her mother-in-law and brother-in-law as well as her foster mother – in order to steal their possesions, state media reported yesterday.

The other victims included Van's acquaintances as well as lovers.

The killings took place between 1998 and 2001, said the state-run Phap Luat (Law) newspaper. Police are also investigating whether Van, a mother of two who did not work outside the home, murdered her businessman husband.

Serial killers are practically unheard of in Vietnam, where newspapers have eagerly published accounts of Van's alleged crimes.

The newspaper report said Van took all the victims to hospital after administering the poison in an attempt to cover up her involvement.

After the victims died, she faked their wills and other documents to steal their possessions, estimated at a total of 300 million dong, the report said.

Van will appear in a court in southern province Binh Duong along with her boyfriend, who is 20 years younger and who is accused of aiding her crime spree.

They are charged with murder and robbery, both punishable by death by firing squad.