Nephew beats uncle to death over unpaid debt of 35 million dong

Man in Nghe An murdered by creditor for not paying 35 million VND

(Baonghean.vn) - Due to a conflict over debt, an argument broke out between the victim and the creditor. The creditor used a shovel handle to repeatedly hit the victim, causing his death.

On the morning of September 30, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Vu Van Minh (born in 1987), residing in Trung Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, for the crime of "Murder". In this case, the defendant and the victim were related, calling each other uncle and nephew.

Defendant Vu Van Minh at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

According to the investigation agency's documents, around March 2019, Minh lent Mr. Nguyen Tho T. (born in 1970, residing in Nam Thanh commune) 70 million VND and promised to pay it back 8 days later.

However, Mr. T. only paid Minh 35 million VND later. Minh asked about the remaining amount many times but Mr. T. said he did not have it. After that, Mr. T. went to the South so Minh went to see his wife and children many times to ask for the debt.

On April 27, 2019, knowing that Mr. T. was returning to his hometown, Minh took the initiative to call but Mr. T. did not answer. At 4:00 p.m. the same day, Minh went to Mr. T.'s daughter's shop and said: "I heard your father was coming back but you didn't call me." After that, Minh stood in front of the shop, cursed and threatened to beat Mr. T.

The daughter later told her father about the incident, and Mr. T. said, “I was just threatening you, but I didn’t dare do anything to you.” At 6:30 p.m. the same day, Mr. T. called Minh and asked, “Where are you?”. Minh replied, “I’m at home,” and Mr. T. said, “If you’re there, I’ll come and beat you to death.”

About 5 minutes later, Mr. T. rode his motorbike to the house that Minh was building in Hamlet 6, Trung Thanh Commune. There, the two sides argued, Minh took a bamboo stick and chased and hit Mr. T.

When he saw Mr. T. collapse, Minh left. The victim was taken to Nghe An General Hospital for emergency treatment but died. The forensic examination concluded that Mr. Nguyen Tho T. died of “acute circulatory failure due to multiple injuries that caused a fractured skull, cerebral hemorrhage, broken ribs and a ruptured spleen.”

In court, Vu Van Minh admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. “The defendant did not intentionally kill anyone,” Minh stated. Having the last word, Minh apologized to the victim’s family.

After the deliberation, the panel of judges found that there were still many details in the case that needed to be carefully considered, so they decided to extend the deliberation. The trial will be announced on October 4.