Life sentence for husband who hacked to death 'post-divorce debt collector' hired by ex-wife
(Baonghean.vn) - Many times unable to collect the money the court ordered after the divorce, Ms. Xuan hired someone to collect the debt from her ex-husband, Nguyen Quoc Khanh (also residing in Do Luong district, Nghe An). At her house, Khanh used a knife to slash one person to death and injured another person by 45%.
On the morning of November 13, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Quoc Khanh (born 1968), residing in Van Son commune, Do Luong district, for the crime of "Murder".
According to the investigation agency's documents, Nguyen Quoc Khanh married Nguyen Thi Xuan (born in 1971) in 1990 and had two children together. During their time together, the two sides had many irreconcilable conflicts, so in 2018, Xuan filed for divorce and sent it to the People's Court of Do Luong District. After many unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation, the court approved Xuan's divorce from Khanh and requested Khanh to compensate her for more than 53 million VND (the amount of money divided by the difference in the value of the couple's common assets).
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| Defendant Nguyen Quoc Khanh at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
At about 10:30 a.m. on May 18, 2019, Mr. D. and Nguyen Cong Giang (born in 1986) and Ms. Xuan went to Khanh's house to collect a debt. At that time, Khanh's mother and son and their husband were in the house. Hearing the dog barking, knowing that someone was coming, Khanh held a sharp knife in one hand and a chopping knife in the other. When Mr. D. had just stepped up the steps, Khanh rushed forward and used his right hand to slash the other person many times. Mr. D. cried out: "Oh my god, I beg you" then raised his hand to block and stepped back, picked up a stick and hit Khanh in the hand before running out into the garden. Khanh chased after him with a knife and slashed him repeatedly, causing him to collapse.
When Mr. Giang saw Mr. D. being slashed, he shouted, “What’s going on?” and threw the potted plant at Khanh. Khanh continued to chase and slash Mr. Giang with a knife. The victim slipped and fell while running to the sewer, and Khanh continued to slash him repeatedly on the head, body, elbow, hand, cheekbone, etc. Mr. Giang got up and ran away and was taken to the Nghe An General Hospital for emergency treatment with a 45% injury rate. Meanwhile, Mr. D. carried a stick from the garden to the yard, collapsed and died on the spot.
The forensic examination results concluded that the cause of death of Nguyen Kim D. was acute circulatory failure, perforated skull fracture, fracture of the left humerus and left fibula.
As for Nguyen Quoc Khanh, after committing the murder, he took a knife and fled. At 10 p.m. on May 18, Khanh turned himself in to the police and confessed to his crime.
At the trial, defendant Khanh admitted to his crime. Khanh stated that he was angry because Mr. D. had come to collect the debt several times before. The defendant also said that the fact that his ex-wife had taken 10 bags of rice when he was not at home made him angry.
The legal representative of the victim attended the trial, requesting the court to judge the right person, the right crime, and request compensation for funeral expenses and mental damage.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were criminal and therefore required a severe punishment. Considering the entire case, the court sentenced Nguyen Quoc Khanh to life in prison for “Murder”. Regarding the civil part, the defendant was ordered to compensate the victim more than 191 million VND (minus the amount already compensated).
