Murder after theft of household electricity.

From personal conflicts…

Although nearly 10 years have passed since the tragic incident, the people of Khanh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, are still shocked and terrified whenever they mention it. They never imagined that such a thing could happen in their 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 life with his wife and three children. Thanks to his high level of skill, he has been trusted by the local community and elected as the Head of the Electricity Management Team of Khanh Thanh commune for many years.

Nguyen Trong Nhu (born in 1974), a neighbor of Mr. Khanh, primarily works repairing household electrical appliances. As a local resident, Nguyen Trong Nhu was entrusted by the neighborhood with managing and collecting electricity fees for public lighting. Each month, Nhu collects 6,000 VND per household; of which 4,000 VND is used to pay for public lighting, and 2,000 VND is for maintenance and replacement.

As a skilled electronics repairman, and trusted by his neighbors to manage the public lighting, Nhu developed the habit of stealing public electricity, connecting to power sources outside the meter for his family's private use.

After successfully stealing electricity several times, 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 a major blow to Nhu. He was ashamed and suffered economic losses…

After being caught red-handed stealing electricity, Nguyen Trong Nhu suspected that his neighbor, Phan Dinh Khanh, who worked in the same profession, had secretly reported him to the authorities. This led to an argument between the two. The matter seemed to end there, but unexpectedly, Nhu harbored resentment and a grudge. Furthermore, from April 2014, Nhu's responsibility for collecting and managing public electricity had to be transferred to Khanh. This only fueled Nhu's hatred, and he resolved to take revenge on Khanh at all costs.

Nguyen Trong Nhu at the investigative agency along with the evidence of the case. Photo: HSVA

Before carrying out his revenge against Mr. Khanh, Nguyen Trong Nhu had meticulously planned his actions. Knowing he was small and not strong enough to confront and subdue his opponent, he devised a plan to electrocute him using 220V electricity. Since both the perpetrator and the victim lived in the same neighborhood and frequently visited each other's homes, Nhu took advantage of this opportunity to "scout" the nooks and crannies of Mr. Khanh's house. Through this, he learned that there was an electrical outlet and a circuit breaker in Mr. Khanh's bathroom, and that the distance from the bathroom to the window of the outer room was about 10 meters…

He surmised that during the hot summer months, Khanh would sleep in the outer room to keep cool, so he bought a pole and cut off a section of the base nearly 1 meter long. Then, he used two small steel rods (about the size of bicycle spokes - PV) about 15 cm long to connect them to a coil of electrical wire over 10 meters long with a plug already attached… After preparing the “tools,” Nhu hid them inside the house, waiting until late at night, when his “enemy” was fast asleep, to carry out his barbaric act…

The attempted murder failed.

At approximately 1:00 AM on June 29, 2014, while Mr. Khanh and his family were peacefully asleep after a tiring day at work, Nguyen Trong Nhu stealthily approached the back of the house, near the wide-open window of the outer room. He pulled back the curtain on the victim's bed, secured it to the window bars with tape, and then used a bamboo pole with an electrical wire to electrocute Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh. Seeing the victim convulse and fall to the ground, Nhu panicked, ran back home, and went back to sleep as if nothing had happened. Fortunately for Mr. Khanh, after being electrocuted and falling from his bed to the floor, he spontaneously regained consciousness, woke his wife, helped her into the inner room to rest, and was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment.

Mr. Phan Dinh Khanh recounted: "Normally, I sleep in the inner part of the house, but that day the weather was too hot, so I went to sleep alone in the outer room to cool off. I only closed the main door, leaving the windows wide open for the breeze. I didn't even realize I was being electrocuted, but luckily I was lying near the edge of the bed, so when the electric shock hit me, I fell to the ground and escaped death. If I had been lying near the window or in the middle of the bed, I wouldn't have survived. When I woke up, I called my wife to take me back inside. I lay awake until morning, both of us terrified and afraid to sleep again!"

Information about the incident was quickly verified by the Khanh Thanh Commune Police and reported to the Yen Thanh District Police. Determining it to be a case of intentional murder, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Yen Thanh District Police immediately deployed forces to investigate and clarify the matter. Under the direct command of the Deputy Head of the Criminal Investigation Department, a task force was immediately dispatched to the scene to investigate the cause and take statements from the victim along with the commune police.

At the scene, the police discovered a pair of black leather sandals and a roll of electrical wire attached to a piece of wood in the pond of Mr. Trung's house - the house behind Mr. Khanh's house, about 20 meters from the crime scene.

Based on the victim's testimony and evidence collected at the scene, the investigating agency screened individuals exhibiting suspicious behavior. The police received information that four young men had been seen near the victim's house on the night of the crime. However, after comparing the time and evidence, suspicion regarding these four young men was ruled out.

While the investigation was facing difficulties due to a lack of clues, the detectives recovered a piece of pole at Nguyen Trong Nhu's house. When compared to the piece of pole with the electrical wire attached to shock Khanh, they matched perfectly.

At this point, the true identity of the perpetrator gradually came to light, and a summons was issued shortly afterward. An investigator stated that, despite being the murderer himself, Như remained remarkably calm when summoned for questioning, showing no signs of fear or panic.

Nguyen Trong Nhu suspected that Phan Dinh Khanh had informed the power company, causing his exposure and subsequent compensation claim, which led him to plot against his "enemy." (Photo: HSVA)

At the police station, Nhu initially appeared very defiant, presenting numerous pieces of evidence to justify his innocence. However, through sharp investigative techniques and the keen insight of experienced investigators, coupled with clear evidence, the murderer Nguyen Trong Nhu was forced to admit to all his actions.

Trial of guilt

On January 16, 2015, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a trial and sentenced Nguyen Trong Nhu for "murder." Standing before the dock was a dark-skinned man with a sharp, angular face, deep-set eyes, and a haggard appearance. Nhu showed no signs of being aggressive or unruly... It was precisely this outward appearance that led the victim to never suspect that he would one day seek revenge.

When asked by the judges, he said, "As an electronics repairman, you surely know."220V power supply"You could kill someone in an instant, why did you do that?" The suspect mumbled in reply that he only wanted to warn Mr. Khanh, not intentionally kill him… However, investigative documents proved that the perpetrator intentionally killed the victim, not just to "warn" him as he claimed!

According to an investigation by the authorities, on December 5, 2013, Nguyen Trong Nhu was fined 2 million VND by the People's Committee of Khanh Thanh commune for electricity theft. The Yen Thanh district power company also ordered Nhu to compensate nearly 10 million VND for the stolen electricity. Nguyen Trong Nhu suspected that Phan Dinh Khanh had reported him to the power company, leading to his exposure and subsequent compensation.

On the other hand, Khanh had not yet given Nhu the money she was entitled to from repairing and maintaining the lighting system in the neighborhood (2,000 VND per household). Nhu demanded it many times, but Khanh refused to give it to her. From then on, Nhu conceived the idea of ​​taking revenge on Khanh.

The forensic examination results from the Nghe An Provincial Forensic Center showed that Mr. Khanh suffered 1% health damage. However, authorities determined that Mr. Khanh's survival was unintentional on Nhu's part. Nhu, an electrician, knew that contact with a 200V power source could be life-threatening, but still used a homemade device plugged into a 220V power source and stabbed Mr. Khanh directly.

With the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented in the case file, Nguyen Trong Nhu was sentenced by the court to 7 years in prison for the crime of "murder".