Nephew beats uncle to death over debt of 35 million dong

On the afternoon of October 4, after a lengthy deliberation, the People's Court sentenced Vu Van Minh (born in 1987), residing in Trung Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, to life in prison for the crime of "Murder". Regarding the civil part, the defendant was forced to compensate the victim's family with 201 million VND.

Previously, around March 2019, Minh lent Mr. Nguyen Tho T. (born in 1970, residing in Nam Thanh commune) 70 million VND and promised to pay back in 8 days. Minh and Mr. T. are relatives, calling each other uncle and nephew.

The appointment date passed, but Mr. T. had only paid Minh 35 million VND. Minh asked for 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.

Defendant Vu Van Minh in court. Photo: Tran Vu

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.”

After Mr. T. died, the victim's family carried the coffin to the house Minh was building to demand justice.

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.

During the sentencing, the defendant cried when he met his relatives, and told his wife and children to “continue building the house, waiting for the day I am released from prison.” Meanwhile, the victim’s family members were angry and shouted loudly in the middle of the trial.

Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Vu Van Minh to the above sentence. Hearing the sentence, the defendant covered his face and cried.

It is known that in 2012 Vu Van Minh was sentenced to 27 months in prison for robbery.

A few months after being released from prison, Minh was again administratively fined 2 million VND by Yen Thanh District Police for stealing dogs.