Caught stealing money, brought gasoline and burned the homeowner to death

On the morning of October 29, the People's Court of Quang Tri province opened the first instance criminal trial of Le Sy Dung (41 years old, residing in Hai Tan commune, Hai Lang) for murder and theft of property.

Defendant Le Sy Dung at trial.

Dung confessed that at midnight on April 27, he sneaked into the house of Ms. Le Thi Thi (76 years old, living in the same commune) and stole 2 million VND.

The next morning, Mrs. Thi learned that Dung stole the money, so she went to her house to scold him. Dung admitted that he stole the money and promised to return it.

On the same day, Dung went to Hai Tan Commune Police to hand over 650,000 VND he stole from Ms. Thi because he had spent part of it. Then Dung's father handed over another 1,350,000 VND.

However, at midnight on April 29, thinking he had been insulted, Dung intended to take revenge, so he took a 500ml plastic bottle to steal gasoline from a resident and then went to Ms. Thi's house.

Dung confessed: "The defendant poured gasoline on the victim's head and neck and then set it on fire. The fire burned so quickly that the defendant panicked and ran away."

Mrs. Thi was sleeping and unable to resist. Neighbors saw the big fire so they came to her rescue and took her to the emergency room. Half a month later, the victim died.

Meanwhile, on the morning of April 30, Dung continued to steal a motorbike and two cell phones from three people. In the evening, the subject went to the Hai Tan Commune Police Station to confess.

Mr. Le Sy Muong, the defendant’s father, said that Dung had suffered from schizophrenia since childhood. Forensic examination results also showed that Dung had schizophrenia, which limited his ability to perceive and control his behavior.

Considering that the defendant suffered from schizophrenia, confessed, and his family was in difficult circumstances, the People's Court of Quang Tri sentenced the defendant to 19 years in prison for murder and 1 year in prison for theft. The total sentence was 20 years in prison.