Murder because of… a slap
(Baonghean.vn) - Having his hair grabbed and his face slapped by Mr. H. but everyone intervened, it seemed like the incident would stop there, but when he met his brother and nephew, Khanh told them the story. Just because of lack of composure, plus impulsiveness, during the night, these two people tried to find Mr. H. and the murder happened.
Uncle and nephew killed someone and escaped arrest.
Even though the incident happened 4 years ago, witnesses are still shocked every time it is mentioned. Because just a moment of impulsiveness pushed things too far, and the cause was just a slap.
According to the people, as well as the indictment, on the evening of July 25, 2019, at a dog meat restaurant in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, a conflict occurred between Pham Thuc Khanh (born in 1993), residing in Tan Lac town, Quy Chau district, and Lo Minh H. (born in 1989), residing in Tien Phong commune, Que Phong district. Mr. H. grabbed Khanh's hair and slapped him in the face, but was stopped by everyone present. It seemed that the incident would stop there, but when he met his brother Pham Tung Khanh (born in 1990), residing in Tan Lac town, Quy Chau district, and his nephew Lo Thanh Hai (born in 1994), residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, Khanh recounted the incident in which Mr. H. had just beaten him at the restaurant.
As soon as he heard his aunt say that, Hai immediately asked, “Who hit you, where did you hit me?”. Khanh did not know where the person who slapped him was, so he only told them that he was beaten at a dog meat restaurant. After that, the whole group went to meet the restaurant owner and asked for information about that man. With the connections of many people, Hai and Khanh got Mr. H’s phone number so they called to make an appointment to “talk”. Before leaving, Hai managed to get himself a sickle knife, a sword, and a knife.
At around 10:30 p.m. the same day, when the two sides met, Hai took a knife and slashed Mr. H.'s hand once. Seeing Mr. H. running towards him with a knife, Khanh picked up a brick to throw but missed his opponent. At this time, Khanh took a sword and ran to slash Mr. H. but he avoided it. At the same time, Lo Thanh Hai rushed to slash Mr. H. many times, causing the victim to collapse on the vacant lot and die of respiratory and circulatory failure. After committing the crime, Hai and Khanh were taken away from the scene by Ho Viet Quyen on a motorbike. After running a short distance, Hai said Quyen had nothing to do with the beating so he told him to get off, and the two uncles and nephews decided to run away together.
Immediately afterwards, the subjects including Ho Viet Quyen and Pham Thuc Khanh were summoned by the authorities to assist in the investigation. As for Lo Thanh Hai and Pham Tung Khanh, because they had left the locality, the police issued a wanted order for murder. It was not until nearly 4 years later, on June 6, 2023, that the two were arrested by the police pursuant to a wanted order.
Price to pay
On November 14, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial for the defendants Lo Thanh Hai (born in 1994), residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, and Pham Tung Khanh (born in 1990), residing in Tan Lac town, Quy Chau district, both on the charge of murder. Also related to the case, defendant Pham Thuc Khanh, Khanh's younger sister (born in 1993), residing in Tan Lac town, Quy Chau district, was prosecuted for the crime of "Disturbing public order". Separately, defendant Ho Viet Quyen (born in 1996), residing in Long Son ward, Thai Hoa town, was tried for the crime of "Concealing a criminal".
During the trial, the defendants expressed their sincere confessions and remorse for their crimes. Defendant Khanh stated that although he had no conflict with the victim, after hearing his sister recount the slap, he wanted to take revenge. Lo Thanh Hai also confessed like defendant Khanh. This defendant said that because he was angry about his aunt being beaten, he brought a weapon to meet Mr. H. In this case, defendant Hai was the one who initiated and directly slashed Mr. H. many times, causing the victim's death. Before fleeing, seeing that the victim was bleeding profusely, Hai told Khanh to "ask your aunt to take him to the hospital for emergency treatment". However, when he heard that the victim had died, because of fear, the defendant fled with his uncle, defendant Khanh. During the escape, Hai disposed of the murder weapon.
Talking about their escape journey, the two defendants confessed that after escaping, they lived in many places and did not contact their relatives. After nearly 4 years of hiding, Hai and Khanh were arrested by the police. After being arrested, Lo Thanh Hai influenced the family to compensate the victim's representative with 82 million VND.
The victim's family representative came to court and expressed her grief after the death of her relative. She stated that the incident had happened 4 years ago, but the pain still seemed to be fresh. Just because of a small conflict, her relative had to leave unjustly. Notably, after the murder occurred, the two murderers fled the area. In the presence of the victim's representative, the defendants apologized, hoping to receive forgiveness from the victim's family. The victim's representative asked for a lighter sentence for defendant Hai.
The representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province, exercising the right to prosecute at the trial, presented the indictment, stating that the defendants' actions were contemptuous of the law. Just because of a small conflict and even though everyone had intervened and the victim had returned home, defendants Hai and Khanh still came to resolve the matter to the end. In this case, defendant Hai was the initiator and directly committed the crime, and therefore must bear primary responsibility. Defendant Pham Tung Khanh committed the crime as an accomplice.
It is worth mentioning that before committing the crimes related to this case, the three defendants, Hai, Khanh and Khanh, all had bad personal records. Among them, Lo Thanh Hai was once sent to a reform school by the People's Committee of Que Phong district for a term of 24 months. Defendant Pham Tung Khanh was once sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbery. Meanwhile, Khanh's younger sister, Pham Thuc Khanh, was also administratively punished by the police of Quy Hop district for illegal possession of drugs.
After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced defendant Lo Thanh Hai to life in prison for murder; and ordered him to compensate the victim’s family 270 million VND (minus the amount already paid). For the same crime, defendant Pham Tung Khanh was sentenced to 20 years in prison. For disturbing public order, defendant Pham Thuc Khanh was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Defendant Ho Viet Quyen was sentenced to 18 months, suspended.
Thus, just because of a slap, Khanh and his sister had to go to jail. Not only that, these two brothers also dragged their nephew to prison with a life sentence. The case is a lesson for many people on how to behave with each other in life. Don't just use force to resolve small conflicts, then pay a heavy price.
