Expensive lesson after murder because of 'staring'

Carrying a pig-stabbing knife to "talk"

Anyone who witnessed the recent criminal trial of the murder and concealment case at the People’s Court of Nghe An Province must have been startled. Just because they thought that the people sitting at the next table were “looking at them,” the young subjects invited each other to “talk” with knives. And then, one person died because of the young man’s cold knife slashes.

The murder occurred at a drinking place in Hung Nhan commune, Hung Nguyen district on the evening of May 8, 2023. That day, Ho Ngoc Sao (39 years old) and Nguyen Van The (30 years old), both residing in Hung Phuc commune, Hung Nguyen district, invited each other to drink beer. When the drinking party was already a bit tipsy, Nguyen XH's group (born in 1980, residing in Hung Thanh commune, Hung Nguyen district) also came here to drink coffee.

Thinking that the people sitting at the next table were "looking at" him, Nguyen Van The said to Mr. H.: "Why are you looking at him like that?" At this time, a person in Mr. H.'s group replied: "It's nothing, man." It seemed that everything would stop there, but a moment later, Mr. H. and a friend holding a pipe and a plastic chair walked over and tried to beat The. Seeing that, Ho Ngoc Sao jumped in to stop him but was beaten, forcing Sao and The to run away.

On the way home, The and Sao called a group of friends, including Nguyen The Vu (23 years old) and Nguyen Viet Cuong (25 years old), who live in Hung Phuc commune, to come pick them up. When they met, Sao told everyone that he had just been beaten by a group from another commune at a drinking place and had to leave his motorbike and phone at the restaurant, asking for help to get his belongings. Before leaving, Sao, The and his group of friends all carried weapons, including a pig-stabbing knife.

On the way, Sao's group met the owner of a drinking place and was informed that "there were a lot of people on the other side". Hearing that, the friends who were with them wanted to stop because they were scared. At this time, The continuously urged his brothers: "Are you going or not? Why are you afraid of those people?"

Having finished speaking, The held two knives in his hands, Sao held one knife and walked ahead, followed by some friends to the drinking place. However, after walking a distance, the group of friends stopped, leaving only The and Sao to continue moving.

At this time, Mr. H.'s group was standing in front of the shop. When they saw Sao and The coming, carrying weapons, they were scared and shouted to each other to pick up rocks to throw while running away. Nguyen Van The held the weapon and said: "If you have the courage, come out here", then took a knife and chased Mr. H.'s group of friends but it was too late.

Meanwhile, Ho Ngoc Sao went into a drinking place. Seeing Sao running in with a knife, Mr. H. ran over and hugged him, but Sao stabbed him three times in the thigh. The victim ran away for a while and then fell to the ground. After that, although people took him to Nghe An General Hospital for emergency treatment, Mr. H. died from shock and acute blood loss from the punctured artery.

As for the perpetrator, after stabbing someone, Sao told his friends about the incident. At this time, Vu threw his pig-stabbing knife and the knife Sao had just used to commit the crime into the canal. Cuong also took The's pig-stabbing knife and threw it into the canal to destroy the evidence.

In addition, Cuong also lent The and Sao a motorbike to escape abroad. On July 5 and 7, 2023, Ho Ngoc Sao and Nguyen Van The turned themselves in to the police, admitting to the murder.

Pay the price for thuggery

With the above actions, Ho Ngoc Sao and Nguyen Van The were prosecuted and brought to trial for the crime of Murder. Separately, the two defendants Nguyen Viet Cuong and Nguyen The Vu were prosecuted for the crime of Concealing a Criminal.

At the trial, the defendants all admitted to committing the crimes as charged in the indictment. The two defendants charged with murder said that because they had been drinking that day, they were impulsive and could not control their actions. Defendant The admitted that he was the one who initiated the incident when he turned to ask the victim's table because he thought he was being stared at. However, he himself could not explain to the Trial Panel what a "staring" look was. After being hit by a chair with a chair by one of the victim's group, the two defendants ran out of the restaurant out of fear. The two defendants said that they then called their friends to come pick up their belongings. However, when the court asked why they only came to pick up their belongings and brought many knives, both remained silent.

As the defendant who directly caused the victim's death, defendant Sao expressed remorse. This defendant stated that because he had been drinking that day, he could not control his actions. Only after the incident had happened did he come to his senses. Out of fear, he and The fled to Cambodia. After more than 2 months on the run, realizing that his actions were against the law, the defendant turned himself in.

Before the trial took place, the defendants had influenced their families to partially compensate for the victim's family's mental damage. The victim attended the trial and requested the court to try the defendants according to the law.

At the trial, the jury reminded everyone, especially young people, to stay calm to resolve conflicts, and not to use violence for unjustified reasons, leading to serious consequences. Aware of their wrongdoings, the defendants all asked the court to consider reducing their sentences so that they could soon have the opportunity to return to rebuild their lives and partially compensate for the losses of the victim's family.

The jury determined that the defendants’ actions were hooliganism in using dangerous weapons to attack the victim’s vital areas. This action not only caused injury to the victim but also seriously affected the security and order situation. Therefore, isolating the defendants from society is necessary, demonstrating the strictness of the law. In this case, the main role belongs to defendant Ho Ngoc Sao. Therefore, the court sentenced defendant Sao to 19 years in prison for murder.

For the same crime, defendant Nguyen Van The was sentenced to 15 years in prison. For the crime of concealing a criminal, defendants Nguyen Viet Cuong and Nguyen The Vu were sentenced to 7 to 9 months in prison.

The trial ended with a suitable lesson for the defendants and also contributed to warning everyone about the attitude of communication with each other in society. All conflicts can be resolved by reason; do not let impulsiveness, competitiveness, anger overwhelm reason, use violence and cause regrettable consequences and have to pay the price with years of imprisonment.