Drowned in a lake for refusing to drink beer

Even though Loc jumped into the lake to escape, Manh still ran to intercept him, using a piece of board to hit his opponent, causing him to sink into the lake and die.

On October 13, the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City rejected the appeal of defendant Lam Ngoc Manh (24 years old, from Soc Trang), upholding the original first instance verdict.

Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced Ngoc to 16 years in prison for "Murder". Ngoc's two accomplices, Ly Khanh and Le Thanh Tuyen (both from Soc Trang), were each sentenced to 1 year in prison for "Disturbing public order". After the first instance trial, Manh appealed for a lighter sentence.

Defendant Lam Ngoc Manh at the appeal hearing

According to the investigation, on the evening of January 9, 2016, Manh, Khanh and Tuyen went to a friend's house in Binh Chanh district (HCMC) to attend the friend's baby's full-month party. There, Manh excitedly invited Nguyen Van Loc to drink beer with him, but Loc refused. When Manh returned to his rented room, he saw Loc following him to cause trouble, so Manh quickly went into his room and closed the door. Loc continued to stand at the door cursing and then threw rocks into Manh's room, challenging Manh to fight him.

Hearing the noise, Khanh and Tuyen ran to beat Loc. Weak, he ran away and jumped into a nearby lake to swim to the other side. Seeing that, Manh ran to intercept, picked up a piece of board and jumped down to hit Loc repeatedly on the head and body until he sank into the lake.

Fifteen minutes later, when the victim did not come ashore, the three defendants jumped in to look for him and discovered that he had died. Knowing that escape was difficult, the three defendants turned themselves in and confessed to their crimes.

At the appeal hearing, Manh stated that he did not intend to kill the victim, he only intended to beat him as a warning, but did not expect Mr. Loc to die.

The panel of judges determined that defendant Manh had carried out his actions to the end, determined to take the victim's life, so the crime was considered hooliganism.

Furthermore, at this trial, there were no new details so the panel of judges rejected the defendant's appeal.

According to Vietnamnet