Tension in the trial of the 9x Nghe An 'hot girl' who killed her 63-year-old aunt

(Baonghean.vn) - The trial of defendant Ho Thi Hue lasted all day but still could not give a final sentence for the act of killing the grandmother of the girl known as the "hot girl" of Hoang Mai, Nghe An.

On October 24, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Ho Thi Hue (born 1991), residing in Quynh Thien ward, Hoang Mai town, prosecuted for "murder".

As soon as the defendant was brought to the dock, the courtroom became noisy with curses and indignation from the victim’s family. Even when asked to maintain order, many of them could not control their emotions, throwing hateful looks at the defendant.

Listening to the representative of the Procuracy read the indictment describing each of the defendant's actions, no one thought that a girl with a beautiful face, considered a "hot girl" like Hue could be so cruel. Hue only finished 7th grade but thanks to her beauty, she quickly got married to a man living in Bac Giang and had 2 children, the older one born in 2010, the younger one born in 2014.

Defendant Ho Thi Hue in court. Photo: Phuong Thao

According to the indictment, at about 6:00 a.m. on January 5, 2016, Hue took 2 million VND to hitchhike from her house to the residence of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (born in 1954, residing in Quynh Thien ward, Hoang Mai town) with the purpose of paying off her debt. Hue and Ms. Huong had a close relationship, even being related to each other, Hue called Ms. Huong "aunt".

When arriving at Mrs. Huong's house, Hue entered through the main door of the house and saw that the door was open. Hue walked in and called out "old lady, old lady..." but no one answered. Hue continued walking into the house and saw that the aluminum glass door was closed. She used her hand to open the door and walked inside.

The room was quite dark, Hue had only taken two steps when Mrs. Huong suddenly covered her with a blanket and shouted "Who are you, who are you?" Hue shouted "It's me". However, because the room was dark and the lights were off, the two continued to struggle. After that, Hue pressed down on Mrs. Huong and used his hands to squeeze her neck and face for about 10 minutes. When Mrs. Huong stopped moving, Hue let go and turned on the lights and found that the victim had died.

Then, Hue went to the back door of the room, used both hands to open the aluminum glass door, then pushed the wooden door outside. Hue stepped out of the two doors and saw a 70 cm long crowbar. Hue took the crowbar and went into the room and pried open the iron door many times. At the same time, Hue took the bunch of keys from Mrs. Huong's room and put them in the safe lock with the aim of misleading the investigation agency.

After committing the act, Hue followed the concrete road to the left of Mrs. Huong's house to go home. On January 11, 2016, Hue went to the police investigation agency - Hoang Mai town police to surrender and report the crime.

Ms. Huong's three biological children, relatives and neighbors disagree with the "murder" charge that the Procuracy brought against defendant Ho Thi Hue. Photo: Phuong Thao

During the investigation, on March 17, 2016, the Investigation Police Agency - Nghe An Provincial Police requested the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry - Ministry of Health to conduct a psychiatric assessment of Ho Thi Hue. The assessment conclusion clearly stated, "Before, during and after committing the crime, the defendant Ho Thi Hue had no mental illness and was capable of perceiving and controlling her behavior. After committing the crime and at the time of assessment, Ho Thi Hue suffered from a severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms."

From August 15, 2016 to July 11, 2017, Ho Thi Hue had to comply with the Decision to apply compulsory medical treatment measures of the Provincial People's Procuracy. Therefore, the case has only now been brought to trial.

The trial lasted from morning to afternoon on October 24 in a tense atmosphere, partly because the attendees were so outraged by Ho Thi Hue's cruel behavior, and partly because the victim's representative did not agree with many details in the indictment and the defendant's testimony.

Attending the trial were Mrs. Huong's three biological children and many relatives and neighbors. Mrs. Huong's daughter, Nguyen Thi Hang, said that the court should convict Ho Thi Hue of "murder and robbery" and not simply "murder" as the prosecution had charged. After deliberation and considering the arguments presented, the panel of judges decided to return the case file for re-investigation.

Phuong Thao