Murder behind the acacia tree

The fatal stab

On the evening of December 8, 2021, the Yen Thanh District Police Investigation Agency received a report of a dead person in the forest area in the area, the body had begun to decompose. To avoid causing panic in public opinion as well as to quickly find the perpetrator, detectives quickly established a special project.

Based on the family's testimony, the investigation agency initially determined that this was not a robbery because all the items at the scene were intact. While the case was initially being investigated, the detectives received information.the perpetrator has surrenderedat the district police headquarters. More surprisingly, that person was the victim's long-time forest friend.

Defendant Tran Dinh Thang at trial.

Tran Dinh Thang (born in 1987); residing in Tien Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district and Mr. Le Van Th. (born in 1964); residing in Ma Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, had adjacent forest land. Due to the nature of their forest work, the two rarely met each other. Mr. Th. was a gentle and simple person, so the two had no conflicts. However, a misunderstanding about the acacia plantation on the border between the two houses caused a heartbreaking incident that no one wanted.

On the afternoon of December 5, 2021, because he wanted to go into the forest to check the beehives as well as the forest trees of his family, Thang prepared a knife (usually used for going into the forest) and then got on a motorbike to go into the Hong slope forest, Tien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh).

When arriving, seeing that the border area between his forest land and Mr. Le Van Th.'s forest land had some old acacia trees cut down and some newly planted acacia trees encroaching on his land, Tran Dinh Thang immediately went to find Mr. Le Van Th. to ask.

The defendant apologized to Ms. D's family for the pain and loss he had caused the family.

When arriving, he saw Mr. Th. mowing the grass. Thang asked why and the two sides argued. After that, Thang left but heard the sound of a lawn mower. He turned around and saw Mr. Th. driving the lawn mower towards him, so Thang avoided it. When Thang's men were level with Mr. Th., Thang stabbed the victim in the chest with the knife he was wearing on his waist.

Afterwards, Tran Dinh Thang abandoned the victim and went home. However, because his motorbike broke down, Tran Dinh Thang called his younger brother, Tran Dinh Ty, to pick him up. After returning home, Thang went to the Sat dam near his house and threw the knife he used to stab Mr. Th. into the dam.

On December 8, 2021, because Mr. Th. did not return home and could not contact him, the victim's family went into the forest to search and found Mr. Th. dead in the forest. His body began to show signs of decomposition. Upon hearing the news, Tran Dinh Thang was encouraged by his family to go to Yen Thanh District Police to surrender.

The pain of those left behind

The trial of Tran Dinh Thang opened in early June 2021. Ms. Nguyen Thi D. from Ma Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) attended the trial holding two portraits in her arms - one of her husband, Mr. Le Van Th. - the victim in this case, and one of her son who died in 2005, at the age of 19, after a fight with local youths.

The victim's family said that the defendant was insincere and evasive during the questioning at the trial.

Attending the court session with her brothers and relatives wearing heavy mourning scarves, Mrs. D. burst into tears when listening to Thang tell the story of that day.

During the investigation as well as at the trial, Tran Dinh Thang insisted that the underlying cause was corruption.forest land disputesbetween the two families. Therefore, when he heard the sound of a chainsaw behind him, Thang thought Mr. Th. was attacking him so he stabbed him.

"He was gentle, all day he just worked and didn't open his mouth to talk, let alone curse or threaten anyone. Thang said my family encroached on the forest land so he often showed his attitude, he said 'no ma'am, just give it to him'. He didn't fight over those few meters of land. So why did you kill him, why?", Mrs. D's voice choked. She sat down, hugged the two portraits of her husband and son and cried silently.

On the witness stand, defendant Tran Dinh Thang mumbled: "When Mr. Th. ran towards me, in a moment of confusion, I stabbed him. It was an accident, I did not intend to stab him to death."

Mrs. D. cried when she heard Tran Dinh Thang testify in court.

However, those attending the trial said that if Thang had saved Mr. Th. at that time or at least informed others to save the victim, the fatal consequences might not have happened, and Mr. Th. could still have enjoyed his last days with his children and grandchildren, instead of having to die alone in the forest like that.

Tran Dinh Thang said that when he heard about Mr. Th.'s death, he felt very remorseful and remorseful. He apologized to Mrs. D.'s family for the pain and loss he had caused them. However, that could not make up for the pain in Mr. Th.'s wife's heart when she thought about her sick son and young grandchildren. She asked the jury to give the defendant a severe sentence.

The defendant had no aggravating circumstances, and many mitigating circumstances such as surrendering, confessing honestly, repenting, and influencing his family to remedy the civil consequences. Considering the case as a whole, the Trial Panel sentenced Tran Dinh Thang to life in prison for "Murder", "exceeding the sentence" of 17-18 years in prison that the representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province, who held the right to prosecute at the trial, had previously proposed. In addition, the court also ordered the defendant Thang to compensate the victim's family with a total of nearly 210 million VND in mental damage and funeral expenses, and to provide Mr. Th.'s parents with 500,000 VND/month each.

Tran Dinh Thang was escorted out of the courtroom, Mrs. D. still holding the two portraits, her mouth kept muttering "Why did you kill him?". Just because of a moment of not being able to control himself, Thang took the life of a person and put himself in prison. He was detained, the debt weighed heavily on the shoulders of his wife and children. This was probably too high a price for Thang to pay for his crime.