Killing of Nguyễn Xuân Đạt

The killing of Nguyễn Xuân Đạt,^[a] known outside of Vietnam as "The Vietnamese Butcher case", is a consensual murder and dismemberment case that occurred in the Vietnamese province of Lạng Sơn on January 25, 2025. The case gained traction in late July of the same year, when videos and images of the murder began circulating on shock sites, Telegram and other encrypted messaging apps.

The Vietnamese Butcher videos are the first known commercially-intended recordings of a real murder—commonly called a snuff film—as they were sold on Telegram groups and the dark web at least since February 2025.

The murder suspect, former Vietnamese government official Đoàn Văn Sáng, was identified by internet users. The alleged evidence against Sáng was published online in the 88-page document, which the Vietnamese government had discouraged the public from downloading. In November 2025, following both international and local outrage, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Lạng Sơn Provincial Police arrested Sáng and charged him with murder. If convicted, he may face life imprisonment or the death penalty.

On July 26, 2025, eleven videos and ninety-eight images of what became known as The Vietnamese Butcher began circulating on Telegram and other encrypted messaging apps. It was later released through shock sites and other platforms with an extended version. It was described by Vice as the first authentic snuff film.^[1]

The videos, which are recorded from multiple angles, show a naked male adult, who was later identified as Nguyễn Xuân Đạt, lying on his back, with his head lying on a cutting board while masturbating on a bathroom floor. At the moment of the orgasm, the assailant, who was later identified as Đoàn Văn Sáng, decapitates Đạt with a cleaver.^[2] The rest of the footage depict Đạt's dismemberment, and show Sáng wearing a face mask while holding Đạt's decapitated head. It also later showed Đạt's internal organs being cooked, indicating potential vorarephilia or cannibalism.^[3][4]

Prior to the recorded killing, another longer video had shown the rehearsal between the two persons where Sáng is shown wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and placing his cleaver on Đạt's neck, but later embracing Đạt before the end of the video.^[1]

Before an official conclusion, many online Vietnamese investigators used OSINT and forensic investigations to gain more information about the case.^[5] Through floor tiles and household items in the initial video, they concluded that both the victim and assailant were Vietnamese, and the place of murder was either near the China–Vietnam border or the Cambodia–Vietnam border.^[1] Initial suspicions towards a Buddhist who was claimed to have interacted with the victim were dropped after they had denied involvement.^[1]

The victim was eventually identified as Nguyễn Xuân Đạt (b. March 10, 1989), a native of Đông Hưng, Thái Bình (now Tiên Hưng, Hưng Yên).^[6] According to his family, Đạt was raised in Hanoi due to his mother's mental health problems, and worked as a fishmonger at Phùng Khoang market.^[7] He had reportedly often expressed a desire to be decapitated since at least 2022.^[1] Additionally, Đạt had made a comment on a website asking someone for a Vietnamese translation of the ero guro manga Applicant for Death (Japanese: 他殺志願) by Juan Gotoh, which had similarities with Đạt's death, such as details related to guillotines, consensual homicide and speaking decapitated heads.^[1]

After the murder, Đạt's Facebook account was taken control of and locked down, which was presumed to have been done by Sáng.^[1]

On November 23, 2025, an 88-page summary, often referred to as "the 88-page document" (Vietnamese: Tài liệu 88 trang), which had documented information about the case, was published on Facebook. The document contained theories and information about Đạt and the crime scene. It also provided suspicions of Sáng being the assailant, because of the correlations between the assailant's and Sáng's bodily characteristics, and their shared activities as well as both of their contact with each other.^[2][8]

On October 3, 2025, an official notice from the Ministry of Public Security reported that an official investigation of the case began after their "observations of the online space".^[9][7] On November 28, the Ministry of Public Security and the Lạng Sơn Provincial Police arrested Sáng on charges of the murder of Đạt.^[10]

According to Sáng's confessions, he and Đạt had met through social media in 2020,^[11] and on January 25, 2025, after contact on a mobile phone, Đạt had entered Sáng's workplace at the office of the Market Surveillance Unit No. 4 (which had been vacant due to Tết celebrations) before the incident.^[7]

On December 10, 2025, the Ministry of Public Security recommended the Lạng Sơn Provincial Police to expand their investigation and obtain further evidence.^[12]

Ben Ditto of Vice wrote a report on The Vietnamese Butcher case claiming that it was the first by a major news outlet.^[1]

After the release of the 88-page document and Sáng's subsequent arrest, the case had gained significant traction within Vietnamese media, with articles published by VnExpress, Thanh Niên and VietNamNet.^[2][13][14]

According to Sin Chew Daily, due to Vietnamese police not initially publicizing any information, netizens had "took matters into their own hands", participating in the investigation and eventually "compil[ing a 88-page] report at the end of November" which had revealed the assailant to be Sáng and also "speculat[ed] on [where] the possible crime scene" was.^[15] Hong Kong's HK01 said that the original Facebook group did "significant work" regarding the identification of Sáng and the murder site, which BBC News Vietnam had also acknowledged.^[3][9]

Hưng Yên Provincial Police has discouraged people from downloading or accessing the original documents, due to "malware concerns".^[8]

• List of incidents of cannibalism
• Murder of Bernd Brandes, a similar case of consensual murder and cannibalism