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Shortly before 3pm on Saturday January 14 2012, the doorbell rang at the Hao family home. 49-year-old Chun Nam answered it. Standing on his doorstep was a teenage boy whom Chun Nam didn't recognise. It seemed reasonable to assume he had come to see one of Chun Nam's two children. When asked who he was looking for, the boy explained that he wanted to speak to Vinci,
Vinci was Chun Nam's 15-year-old daughter. Chun Nam called for Vinci, who appeared at the top of the staircase. She said she would speak with the boy. Chun Nam retreated to the kitchen to prepare dinner, leaving Vinci and her male guest alone. Moments later, Chun Nam heard Vinci cry out in pain and he rushed back into the foyer.
He was immediately struck in the face with a knife, leaving a bleeding gash across his right cheek. Chun Nam raised his hands for protection while simultaneously trying to fight off his assailant. The commotion alerted Chun Nam's 12-year-old son, who rushed in to find his father grappling with a teenage boy holding a knife. The teen managed to stab Chun Nam several more times in the face, head and arms before fleeing out the front door.
Lying nearby at the base of the stairs was Vinci. Her face was covered in blood. Vinci Howe lived in the Dutch city of Arnhem. She was a popular secondary school student with an active social life and many friends.
In her spare time, Vinci busied herself with a variety of hobbies, including dancing for a street crew, learning piano, and playing chess. Vinci had adopted the Western name Joyce, but her family still referred to her by her Chinese heritage name, Vinci. While she drew friends from diverse circles, Vinci mostly gravitated towards other teenagers of Chinese descent like her.
Reports of the attack on Vinci and her father spread quickly online. Many of Vinci's friends learned of her ordeal through social media. As Vinci and Chun Nam were rushed to hospital, police worked swiftly to track down their attacker. Vinci's brother was able to provide a description. Several of the Hao family's neighbors had seen the blood-soaked teen fleeing the area.
Within two hours of the attack, police tracked the boy down to a street north of where the Howes lived. He was hiding in some bushes and refused to give himself up. The police fired a single gunshot into the air as a warning, prompting the teen to surrender. The offender was a 14-year-old from Capelle an der IJssel, about two hours west of Arnhem. As he was a minor at the time, he has never been fully publicly identified.
In reports, he was only referred to as Yinhua K. Yinhua had been kicked out of school five months earlier and already had a criminal record for two property offences. Investigators determined that Yinhua and Vinci Hao were not friends, but they were superficially acquainted. They shared the same social circles and were known to have attended at least one gathering together months earlier.
A photograph taken at this party showed Yin Hua pulling a funny face. Two girls stood on either side of him. One was Vinci Hao. Yin Hua eventually confessed to stabbing Vinci and her father. It took a while longer to establish why. Yin Hua finally admitted that the attack wasn't his idea. He had been recruited to kill Vinci by a 17-year-old reported as Wesley C.
Wesley was also Chinese Dutch and lived in Rotterdam. When interviewed, Wesley denied knowing Yin Hua or having any involvement in the attack. In all, neither Yin Hua nor Wesley were particularly helpful to the police. Investigators combed through the two boys' social media hoping to establish a connection between them. They eventually came across a conversation between the pair on the telecommunications app Skype.
The day before Vinci and her father were attacked, Wesley and Yin Hua had exchanged a series of messages. Wesley told Yin Hua: "Tomorrow you will do it." Yin Hua responded: "Okay man, is good." Wesley then provided Yin Hua with specific instructions on how to carry out the stabbing, before stating:
"You have the address. You know where to be. She has piano lessons at 2pm, so you have to go at 3pm." Yin Hua responded, "Okay. If her parents are home, should I take them with me?" Wesley's final message read, "Yes. That's okay." Chun Nam Hao recovered from his injuries and was released from hospital. But his daughter was in a dire state.
Vinci had sustained several deep stab wounds to her face and neck. Five days after the attack, she died. The next day, 600 mourners marched through the city silently alongside Vinci's family in a show of support. The route took them past the Howe's home, where a large collection of flowers and soft toys had been placed in honour of Vinci. At the end of the march, a representative of the Howe family thanked the crowd.
Vinci's murder was described by her loved ones as incomprehensible. They asked, How could boys aged 14 and 17 without any relation to Vinci commit such a heinous act on an innocent and defenceless 15-year-old girl? What could be the motive? The family also made it clear that in these circumstances they viewed Dutch punishment for juveniles as inadequate.
They called for Yin Hua and Wesley to be tried as adults, stating that anyone who could commit such a bloody and premeditated act of violence was no longer a child. The following weekend, Vinci's friends held a small gathering of their own. They lit Chinese lanterns and released them into the night sky. One of the attendees filmed part of the service.
The footage captured Vinci's 16-year-old best friend, Polly, saying goodbye to Vinci. But it was the tone of her voice that stood out. Instead of speaking with sadness, Polly sounded noticeably gleeful. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors.
Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. On a November night eight weeks before Vinzie Howe was attacked, she attended a party at a local pool centre with her best friend, Polly. During the course of the evening, Vinzie became increasingly irritated at Polly's behaviour.
She felt Polly was being flirtatious and conceited with her new boyfriend, Wesley. Vinci vented about this to some of the other girls in her friendship circle. When Polly caught wind of Vinci's complaints, an argument broke out between them. Everyone at the party saw the fight. It started with the pair shouting and swearing at each other before turning physical. Eventually, the two girls were pulled apart and they went their separate ways.
Days later, Polly posted something on her Facebook page that Vinci took issue with. When Vinci commented, "Oh my god how slutty can you be?" Polly didn't respond to Vinci's comment, though one of their mutual friends replied, "Vinci, you have to be careful how you talk and you better learn from your mistakes." Another friend wrote, "Make Vinci stop because otherwise something serious will happen."
While Polly didn't display any animosity towards Vinci online, offline she was seething. Although their friendship group was divided, many ultimately took Polly's side. She told her boyfriend Wesley that she hated Vinci and wanted her out of her life. Despite having only just started dating Polly a few weeks prior, Wesley threw his support behind her. He encouraged his girlfriend's anger.
A week after the party, Polly and Wesley composed a threatening text message which they sent to Vincy via Wesley's mobile phone. Vincy's reply to Wesley's text further enraged Polly. With the conflict escalating, Vincy's mother called Polly's mother to address the issue. They discussed Polly's behavior, but their conversation had no impact on the conflict. Polly's anger soon reached boiling point.
She informed her boyfriend that she wanted Vincy gone for good. Wesley suggested they find someone who could kill Vincy on their behalf. The following weekend, Wesley and Polly went to a party in Arnhem. Polly spoke openly of how she wanted Vincy dead, but none of the partygoers wanted to confront her about it. If they did, it could ruin the night. So they brushed their concerns off, refusing to take Polly's threats seriously.
To keep the peace, they made sure not to invite Vincy to the party. She showed up anyway. Polly was furious. She confronted Vincy, called her derogatory names, pushed her and yelled, "I'll kill you and I'll kill your family." Vincy was in tears. She seemed genuinely shocked at the way her former best friend was now behaving towards her.
Worse still, most of the pair's mutual friends continued to side with Polly despite her increasingly volatile behaviour. They were more upset that Vinci had ruined the party by attending. In the days that followed, Polly stepped up her campaign against Vinci. Almost daily, she bombarded her with death threats via text messages and social media.
Vinci spent most of her time on the computer in her room, trying to seem unaffected and defiant in retorts she sent back to Polly. In reality, Vinci was growing increasingly fearful that Polly might follow through on her threats, but none of the pair's friends shared her concerns.
One later spoke to Dutch current affairs program Nieuwsuur, saying that she and everyone else in their friendship group thought that Polly's threats against Vinci had been empty. Polly was known for having an explosive personality and aggressive style of speaking. Even Vinci's parents had dismissed the issue, assuming it was just typical teenage bickering that was being blown out of proportion.
Vinci's father Chun Nam told News Year that he believed the feud would fizzle out and Vinci and Polly would become friends again. In actuality, Polly had started hatching her revenge less than a month after the fight began. Her boyfriend Wesley knew of a 14-year-old named Yin Hua who was known to carry a knife. Wesley was confident that Yin Hua would do almost anything to gain his favor. He was right.
When asked, Yin Hua agreed to kill Vinci Hao. Just over two weeks later on Christmas Day, Polly and Wesley met up with Yin Hua at a snack bar in a village south of Rotterdam. There, the trio began planning Vinci's murder. Yin Hua had attempted to recruit others to participate in the slaughter but hadn't found anyone willing to commit. He resolved that he would carry out the murder himself. Polly promised to pay Yin Hua,
While the final amount offered for the killing has never been confirmed, it was believed that it was somewhere between 50 to 100 euros, around 70 to 150 Australian dollars. Wesley also promised he would shout "Yin Hua" drinks whenever they attended the same parties. Wesley and Yin Hua kept in touch over the next few days, either in person, by phone or online, as they ironed out the details.
Polly was either present for or aware of all these interactions. At first, it was decided that Yin Hua would kill Vinci within the next few days. However, they decided to put their plans on hold until the new year. A week later, on Friday January 6 2012, Wesley handed Yin Hua a piece of paper.
On it, Polly had written the Howe family's address along with specific directions on how to get to the home via public transport. She'd even provided a description of the cartoon character decals on the glass next to Vincy's front door and the paint flecks on the pavement in front. One week later, Polly called one of Vincy's classmates to find out what time Vincy would be home from school that day.
Wesley was present when his girlfriend made the call and passed the details on to Yin Hua. Yin Hua was already in Arnhem, waiting on Vinci Street. Hours passed, but Vinci never appeared. Frustrated, Yin Hua gave up and left. Upon discovering that Vinci had not been killed as planned, Polly was furious. She insisted that Wesley contact Yin Hua to organise another date for the murder.
At about 9 the following evening, Wesley messaged Yinhua via Skype. He confirmed that Vinci's parents would be acceptable collateral damage and set 3pm as the time of the attack. Polly stood over her boyfriend as he typed: "Tomorrow you will do it." On the afternoon of Saturday January 14, Yinhua travelled back to Vinci's house.
He spoke to Wesley several times over the phone during the 90-minute journey. Wesley was with Polly, and the two provided Yin Hua with encouragement to follow through with the plan. It was nearing 3pm when Yin Hua reached the three-story red brick terraced house belonging to the Hao family. The cartoon stickers on the window alongside the blue front door and the white paint splattered on the pavement confirmed that Yin Hua was at the right place.
He approached the door and was let inside before attacking Vincy. When her father attempted to step in, Yinhua stabbed him too. After Polly's involvement in Vincy's murder was established, she was arrested. As with Yinhua and Wesley, Polly was only referred to publicly by her first name and last initial, Polly W.
Yinhua was charged with Vinci Hao's murder and the attempted manslaughter of her father, Chun Nam Hao. Polly and Wesley were both charged with intentional incitement to murder. All three teens were held in juvenile detention while they awaited trial. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors.
Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. Yin-Hua Kei was the first of the three accused to be tried. His court proceedings began in August 2012, seven months after Vinci's murder. In the Netherlands, cases against minors are usually heard behind closed doors.
However, in Yin Hua's case, the panel of three judges made the rare decision to conduct an open hearing. They determined that the public interest outweighed Yin Hua's individual rights. In relation to Vinci's murder, Yin Hua pleaded not guilty by reason of diminished responsibility. His defense counsel relied on two expert psychological reports.
A specialist child and adolescent psychologist concluded that Yin Hua suffered from a serious behavioural disorder and psychopathic traits. The second report, submitted by a panel of clinical psychologists, stated that Yin Hua placed extreme importance on fitting in with his peers. This meant he didn't even consider refusing Polly and Wesley's demands. In Yin Hua's mind, killing Vincy was a guaranteed path to social acceptance.
Both reports concluded that Yin Hua should be regarded as having diminished responsibility on account of his defective mental, emotional, and social development. The defense counsel also attempted to limit Yin Hua's responsibility by citing the extreme external pressure placed on him by Polly and Wesley. The defense claimed that Polly and Wesley threatened to kill Yin Hua's parents if he did not do as they instructed.
The court found no evidence to support these allegations and concluded that Yin Hua was a willing participant in the attacks. They were also satisfied that Yin Hua's actions were premeditated and not a spur-of-the-moment decision made while Yin Hua was in a, quote, "blacked out state", as his lawyers had suggested. Yin Hua also pleaded not guilty to the attempted manslaughter of Chun Nam Hao.
He maintained that he'd only defended himself from Chun Nam, who attacked him. The court also rejected this claim, as Yin Hua instigated the violent altercation with Chun Nam and consciously chose to keep hold of his knife as he did so. The Skype correspondence between Yin Hua and Wesley the day prior to the attack only further discredited Yin Hua's claims.
He had specifically asked if he should also kill Vinci's parents if they interfered and was told to do so. In his victim impact statement, Chun Nam Hao spoke of how his life had turned into hell since the murder of his daughter. He also bore the physical scars of his life or death struggle with Vinci's killer. Chun Nam implored the court to find Yin Hua guilty and to sentence him as an adult rather than a juvenile.
Vinci's mother wasn't home at the time her daughter was set upon and has lived with that guilt ever since. Let suspects of this horrific act get their deserved punishment, she told the court. The judges delivered their verdict two weeks later. Yinhua Kei was found guilty for both the murder of Vinci Hao and the attempted manslaughter of Chun Nam Hao.
As Yinhua was only 14 when he committed these crimes, Dutch laws for juvenile offenders applied. These laws focused strongly on rehabilitation rather than punishment. As such, Yinhua was sentenced to one year in juvenile detention and a further three years in a TBS.
TBS is a criminal psychiatric facility where offenders receive psychological and psychiatric counselling to help reintegrate them into society. This sentence was the maximum term permitted under Dutch law at the time. Chun Nam Hao called Yin Hua's punishment offensive and urged politicians to consider revising the sentencing laws for exceptional cases such as this.
Polly W and Wesley C both pleaded not guilty to intentionally inciting Yin Hua to murder Vinci. Through her lawyer, Polly claimed that her wish for Vinci to die was not meant to be taken literally. She said it was just a turn of phrase that was common in Chinese culture. However, no evidence was provided to prove this.
Two psychological reports were submitted, with experts determining that Polly suffered from a delay in social-emotional development, identity problems, and a behavioural disorder. Polly flatly denied threatening or incentivising Yin Hua to kill Vinci. The court rejected these arguments, finding ample evidence that Polly intended for Vinci to be killed.
Wesley's defense argued there was no evidence that messages sent from Wesley's phone and social media were actually written by Wesley. They claimed that Polly was responsible for them instead. Wesley was depicted as a love-struck teen who allowed Polly to have complete control over him. Wesley claimed that he hadn't wanted Vincy dead, he just wanted to scare her.
Two psychological reports suggested that Wesley functioned at the intellectual and emotional level of an 11-year-old. They also indicated that Wesley had an over-dependence and attachment to his mother, which transferred to Polly once they started dating. The court determined that there was close and conscious collaboration between Polly and Wesley in provoking Vincy's murder. Both teens were found guilty.
The court stated that it was shocking and hard to comprehend that a seemingly trivial quarrel between two young girls could turn a friendship into deep hatred and eventually lead to murder. The prosecution called for both Polly and Wesley to be sentenced as adults. This was permissible in exceptional cases where juvenile offenders were at least 16 years old.
The court acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and the indescribable impact that Vincy's murder had on her family and the community. However, given Polly and Wesley's delayed emotional and intellectual development, the court determined that their sentence should focus primarily on rehabilitation rather than retaliation.
Polly and Wesley were sentenced to two years in juvenile detention, the maximum permissible under Dutch juvenile sentencing laws. Before they were eligible to be released back into society, the pair would be required to spend time in a TBS. Polly would face three years in the TBS and Wesley two. The public prosecutor appealed these sentences, pushing again for Polly and Wesley to be sentenced as adults.
Both appeals were rejected. Wesley C was released in February 2017. A probation report explained that Wesley's emotional immaturity and attachment issues were treated through psychotherapy and behavioural interventions. The report also indicated that Wesley's socio-emotional disadvantages had been rectified and that his self-insight had dramatically improved.
His risk of recidivism was judged to be low. Polly W was released two weeks later. Polly's probation report indicated that she no longer suffered from a conduct or identity disorder and no personality disorder had developed. Her risk of recidivism was judged to be low as long as she continued counselling. As a condition of their release, neither Polly nor Wesley were permitted to contact each other.
Both were required to continue psychological counselling and report regularly to authorities during their probation period. During this time, Yin-Hua Kei applied for release. The court determined that although he had undergone positive development, a few incidents had arisen during his rehabilitation where he made inappropriate choices. Concerns remained as to Yin-Hua's ability to appropriately deal with frustrations.
Accordingly, he was ordered to remain in TBS. Inhwa submitted a second application seven months later. His risk of recurrence was noted as low to moderate, primarily in relation to his impulsive behavior, lack of empathy, and insufficient cooperation with certain TBS interventions.
However, the court found that Yin Hua exhibited less risky behaviour, had demonstrated an ability to withstand disappointments and manage responsibilities, and showed a willingness to seek help. The court determined that he no longer posed a serious risk of violent crime.
Rejecting the public prosecutor's request to further extend Yin Hua's custody arrangements, the court approved Yin Hua's release in September 2017, subject to stringent conditions. Yin Hua was required to regularly report to probation services, refrain from drug and alcohol use, follow a strict daily routine, and grant authorities access to his social media accounts and finances.
In April of the following year, an advertisement appeared online for the sale of several expensive pieces of computer equipment. The seller, whom Casefile will refer to as Mark, was contacted by an interested buyer. Two men arrived at Mark's house that evening. Mark told the Telegraph newspaper that he opened the door to two neat-looking and friendly men of East Asian appearance, presumably a father and son.
The two men collected the computer equipment. Instead of handing over the agreed 4000 euros as payment, the elder of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Mark's head. The younger man ordered Mark onto his knees and instructed him to count to 60 before moving. He threatened to shoot Mark, his girlfriend, and their baby if Mark attempted anything as the men were leaving.
After Mark was certain they had driven away, he called the police. It took the police a few weeks before they had the two armed robbers in custody. The younger one was Yin Hua Kei. News of Yin Hua's violent re-offending brought pain to Chun Nam Hao, who was still coming to terms with the loss of his daughter. He told the Telegraph, "'I am not at all surprised that Yin Hua has made a mistake again,'
He is severely disturbed. That was evident from the murder." Chun Nam further commented, "I like the idea that Yin Hua is now in jail. I hope for myself and for society that Yin Hua stays inside forever." During the investigation into Vinci Howe's murder, investigators examined online and phone records of Yin Hua, Polly, Wesley, and their friends.
They soon realized that the murder plot wasn't a well-kept secret between the three involved. In fact, many other youths were well aware of it. Two hours before Vinci was attacked, a friend of Yin Hua's posted on Facebook, "A girl is going to die at 3pm today." Nineteen minutes later, at 1:23, the post received its first response. The user wrote, "Oh my god.
Yet, no one called the police. The post remained up long after Vinci and her father had been struck. One user responded to the post about an hour and a half after the attack, writing: "Whoa! I just saw it on the news man. Damn!" Just over an hour after that, another user responded to the post with a warning that read: "Watch out! The police also have Facebook."
Many more of Polly and Vinci's friends were aware of the plot since its inception. One of Vinci's friends told Newsyear: "If everyone who knew about it, who should have reported something but didn't, then I think that 60 people should be arrested for being complicit. You know, because everyone knew about it. Everyone knew about it."
Ultimately, no one who remained silent while knowing that Vinci was in danger was charged with any crimes.