Family tragedy when wife kills husband over meal

Murder in the middle of the night

One day in mid-October, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial for defendant Nguyen Thi Dung (born in 1967), residing in Chau Loc commune, Quy Hop district (Nghe An) for murder. The defendant, small in stature, was escorted into the courtroom with red eyes. As soon as she saw her children and grandchildren in the hallway, tears welled up in her eyes.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dung has a husband, Mr. Sam Van Q. (born in 1964). The couple has two children, one boy and one girl. After more than 30 years of living together, they have built a cozy home. However, the warmth of that home has been gone since she took her husband's life in the middle of the night.

The heartbreaking incident occurred on the evening of June 22, 2024. That afternoon, Mr. Q. told his wife to take the phone to be repaired. Late in the evening, Ms. Dung called her husband several times to urge him to come home for dinner, but he did not answer. Mr. Q. replied that she had not finished her work yet, so Ms. Dung ate dinner alone. After dinner, her husband had not yet returned, so Ms. Dung continued to call.

At 11pm that same day, she heard the sound of a motorbike so she knew her husband had come home but due to joint pain, he did not get up. At this time, Mr. Q. went into the bathroom area and asked his wife to turn on the lights for him because he was drunk. When he saw his wife come out, Mr. Q. blamed her for not caring for her husband and not asking if he had eaten anything. Mrs. Dung responded: “You still want to eat at this hour, do you know what time it is? It's past time, who's eating anymore? When I called you, you didn't come home to eat.”

Being scolded by his wife, Mr. Q. did not say anything more but walked towards his wife, waving his hands back and forth, and Mrs. Dung ran away around the well. After chasing her around a few times, Mr. Q. kicked Mrs. Dung in the thigh and knee, causing her to fall face down on the well floor.

At this time, Mrs. Dung stood up with her hands, saw a sharp knife in front of her, picked it up and said, "Come in, come in." "Do whatever you want," Mr. Q. replied and continued to move forward, waving his hands and kicking his wife, but missed.

When Mr. Q. approached and hugged his wife from behind, Mrs. Dung turned around and stabbed her twice in the chest. Seeing her husband collapse, Mrs. Dung dropped the knife and hugged her husband, calling for her son and daughter to take him to the hospital. Only then did Mrs. Dung wake up and quickly apologize, “Sir, I accidentally did it”…

The victim was taken to the hospital by relatives for emergency treatment but died of acute respiratory failure due to a wound that punctured her heart and lungs. As for the perpetrator, after committing the crime, Nguyen Thi Dung went to the police.surrender, admitted the crime.

Torment of regret

In front of the witness stand, defendant Nguyen Thi Dung shed tears many times to show remorse for her crime. The defendant stated that she did not intend to take her husband's life but "accidentally". According to defendant Dung, she had suffered from joint pain for a long time, which affected her health. Also because of the joint pain, that night when her husband came home, the defendant was afraid to go downstairs to turn on the lights, which made Mr. Q angry.

When the couple argued and chased each other, the defendant was kicked in the leg by her husband and fell down. The defendant said that her husband's actions caused her a lot of pain. Therefore, when she saw the knife on the well, she wanted to pick it up to threaten her husband.

The court immediately asked the defendant, "Why didn't you run away like before, but instead chose to hold a knife?" At this time, the defendant answered that because her husband kicked her in the leg, it hurt so much that she was angry, leading to her losing control of her behavior.

The defendant stated that after committing the crime, he felt very remorseful, haunted and mentally tormented. Especially during the time he was detained, he always blamed himself for what he had done to his husband and felt guilty towards his children. The torment and torment have been present in his mind since the murder until today…

Realizing that her actions were wrong, after causing the heartbreaking incident, the defendant asked her children and relatives to take care of her husband's funeral. The defendant also apologized to her children, relatives and paternal siblings...

Also at the trial, the defendant recounted how her husband repeatedly beat her when she was drunk. This was a great suffering for the defendant for a long time. The defendant's defense attorney also provided some details to ask the court to have a more objective view of the case.

According to the lawyer, during her life, the defendant was beaten by her husband many times, especially when Mr. Q. drank alcohol, but for the sake of her family and children, the defendant endured it. "The defendant is a victim of domestic violence," the lawyer stated.

Attending the court as the legal representatives of the victim, the defendant's two children shed tears many times. Both asked the court to consider reducing the sentence for their mother. At the same time, both sent messages of encouragement to their mother to be assured of good rehabilitation so that she could soon have the opportunity to return home to reunite with her children and grandchildren.

Hearing her son’s words of encouragement, the defendant Dung kept her head down, her eyes red. The defendant stated that she was aware that her actions were wrong and violated the law. Because of her moment of anger, she had broken her family and put herself in prison. The defendant apologized to her late husband, children and relatives and asked the court to give her a chance to make amends.

After considering the entire case and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Nguyen Thi Dung to 8 years in prison for murder. Regarding civil liability, because the victim did not request it, the panel did not consider it.

The trial ended, before being escorted home, the defendant only had time to turn back to greet her relatives, children and grandchildren. The babbling call of her grandmother when the trial ended made the defendant’s eyes red. Just because of a moment of anger, the woman in her 60s had to pay a heavy price…