Murder after electricity theft

From personal conflicts…

Although it has been nearly 10 years since the heartbreaking incident, the people of Khanh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, are still shocked and scared every time they mention it. They did not expect that such a thing could happen in a purely agricultural village.

Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh (born in 1971, residing in Phu Tap hamlet, Khanh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) has a happy family with his wife and 3 children. With his high skills, he has been trusted by the people to be the Head of the Khanh Thanh Commune Electricity Management Team for many years.

Nguyen Trong Nhu (born in 1974), a neighbor of Mr. Khanh, whose main daily job is repairing household electricity. As a local, Nguyen Trong Nhu was assigned by the neighbors to manage and collect electricity bills for public lighting. Accordingly, each month, Nhu collects 6,000 VND/household; of which, 4,000 VND is used to pay for electricity for public lighting, 2,000 VND is used for maintenance and replacement.

As a skilled electronics repairman, and trusted by the neighbors to manage public lighting, Nhu started stealing public electricity, connecting electricity outside the meter for personal use for his family.

After many times of successfully stealing electricity, in early 2014, Nguyen Trong Nhu was caught red-handed by the Yen Thanh District Electricity Authority and fined over 10 million VND. This incident was like a heavy blow to Nhu. He was ashamed and suffered economic losses…

When he was caught red-handed stealing electricity, Nguyen Trong Nhu suspected that his neighbor Phan Dinh Khanh had secretly reported it to the authorities. Therefore, the two sides had a verbal exchange. The incident seemed to end there, but unexpectedly, Nhu still held a grudge and harbored a grudge. In addition, since April 2014, Nhu's collection and management of public electricity had to be transferred to Khanh. Like adding fuel to the fire, Nhu's hatred increased many times and he was determined to take revenge on Khanh.

Nguyen Trong Nhu at the police station with evidence of the case. Photo: HSVA

Before taking revenge on Mr. Khanh, Nguyen Trong Nhu had calculated very carefully. He knew that he was small and not strong enough to face and defeat his opponent, so he thought of a way to use 220V voltage to electrocute his enemy. Because the perpetrator and the victim were in the same neighborhood and often visited each other's houses, Nhu took advantage of this opportunity to "scout" the nooks and crannies of Mr. Khanh's house. Through that, he learned that in Mr. Khanh's family's bathroom there were electrical outlets and a circuit breaker system, from the bathroom to the window of the outside house, it was about 10m...

He guessed that in the hot summer, Mr. Khanh would sleep in the cool outside room, so he bought a pole and cut a piece of the stump about 1 meter long. Then, he used 2 small steel bars (about the size of a bicycle toothpick - PV) about 15 cm long to connect to a coil of electric wire more than 10 meters long with a plug attached... After preparing the "tools", Nhu put them in the house, waited until late at night, when the "enemy" was fast asleep, to carry out his barbaric act...

Failed murder plot

At about 1:00 a.m. on June 29, 2014, while Mr. Khanh and his family were sleeping peacefully after a tiring day of work, Nguyen Trong Nhu quietly went around behind, approached the wide open window of the outer house, lifted the curtain on the victim's bed and used tape to secure it to the window bars, then used a bamboo pole with an electric wire to shock Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh. When he saw the victim convulse and fall to the ground, Nhu panicked and ran home and continued to sleep, pretending that nothing had happened. Fortunately for Mr. Khanh, after being electrocuted and falling from the bed to the floor, he suddenly woke up, called his wife to help him into the house to rest, and was then taken to the hospital for treatment.

Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh recounted: Normally, I sleep in the inner room of the house, but that day the weather was too hot so I went out to sleep alone to cool down. I only closed the main door, but the window was still wide open to let the wind in. When I got electrocuted, I didn't know, but luckily I was lying close to the outside of the bed, so when I was electrocuted, I fell to the ground and escaped death. If I had been lying close to the window or in the middle of the bed, my life would have been gone. When I woke up, I called my wife to take me inside the house, and I lay awake until the next morning. The whole night, my wife and I were so confused that we didn't dare to sleep again!

Information about the incident was quickly verified by Khanh Thanh Commune Police and reported to Yen Thanh District Police. Determining that this was a case of intentional murder, the Yen Thanh District Police Investigation Agency immediately deployed forces to investigate and clarify the incident. Under the direct direction of the Deputy Head of the Investigation Agency, a working group was immediately sent to the scene with the Commune Police to investigate the cause and take statements from the victim.

At the scene, the police discovered a pair of black leather sandals and a coil of electric wire attached to a tree in the pond of Mr. Trung's house - the house behind Mr. Khanh's house, about 20m from the crime scene.

From the victim’s testimony and the evidence collected at the scene, the investigation agency screened the suspects. The police force was informed that on the night of the incident, four young men appeared near the victim’s house. However, when comparing the time and evidence, the suspicion of the four young men was eliminated.

While the investigation was having difficulty finding clues, the detectives collected a piece of pole at Nguyen Trong Nhu's house. When compared with the piece of pole with the electric wire attached to Mr. Khanh, they completely matched.

At this point, the true identity of the perpetrator was gradually revealed, and the summons was issued immediately after. An investigator said that although he was the murderer, when summoned for questioning, Nhu remained calm and showed no fear or confusion...

Nguyen Trong Nhu suspected that Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh had reported to the electricity agency, causing him to be exposed and have to pay compensation, so he had the idea of ​​attacking the "enemy". Photo: HSVA

At the investigation agency, Nhu initially appeared very stubborn, he presented many specific evidences to justify his innocence. However, with sharp professional measures and the sensitivity of experienced investigators, combined with clear evidence, the murderer Nguyen Trong Nhu was forced to admit all his actions.

The Trial of Sin

On January 16, 2015, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a trial and sentenced Nguyen Trong Nhu for "Murder". Standing in the dock was a dark-skinned man with an angular face and deep, sunken eyes. Nhu had no sign of being brash or arrogant... With such an appearance, the victim never suspected that one day he would be retaliated against by this man.

When asked by the jury, you work in electronics repair, you certainly know220V power sourcewould kill someone in an instant, why did you do that? Nhu mumbled that he only wanted to warn Mr. Khanh, not intentionally kill anyone… However, the documents of the investigation agency proved that this evil person intentionally killed the victim, not to “warn” as he justified!

According to the investigation of the authorities, on December 5, 2013, Nguyen Trong Nhu was fined 2 million VND by the People's Committee of Khanh Thanh commune for stealing electricity. Yen Thanh district electricity also forced Nhu to pay nearly 10 million VND in compensation for the stolen electricity. Nguyen Trong Nhu suspected that Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh had reported to the electricity agency, causing him to be exposed and have to pay compensation.

On the other hand, Khanh has not yet given Nhu the money she received from repairing and maintaining the lighting system in the neighborhood (2,000 VND/household). Nhu asked for it many times but Khanh refused to give it. From then on, Nhu had the idea of ​​taking revenge on Khanh.

The results of the examination by the Nghe An Province Forensic Center showed that Mr. Khanh suffered 1% damage to his health. However, the authorities determined that Mr. Khanh did not die due to Nhu's intention. Nhu is an electrician and knew that a 200V power source could be life-threatening when in contact with a person, but he still used a homemade tool to plug it into a 220V power source and stabbed Mr. Khanh straight in the body.

With the aggravating and mitigating circumstances shown in the case file, Nguyen Trong Nhu was sentenced by the People's Court to 7 years in prison for "Murder".