The life story of a female teacher sentenced to death

(Baonghean.vn)- Before getting involved in the trafficking and transportation of 255 heroin cakes, death row inmate Nguyen Hoai Thu was a math teacher. Now Thu is repenting every day in prison...

From Math Teacher to Female Death Row Inmate

Nguyen Hoai Thu (born in 1980), from Cam Xuyen district, Ha Tinh province. At the time of her arrest on July 31, 2012, Thu was a teacher at Tien Phong Secondary School, Que Phong district (Nghe An). Blinded by money, Thu and her two sisters-in-law, Nguyen Thi Dung and Truong Thi Hue, both residing in Que Phong district, joined a drug trafficking ring set up by "boss" Nguyen Cong Hai, residing in Quy Hop district.

Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu (middle) and her sister-in-law at the 2012 appeal hearing.

In just the period from March to July 2012, the subjects in this drug ring from Laos to Vietnam carried out 10 illegal drug transactions with a total of 255 heroin cakes from Nghe An to Ho Chi Minh City and to Lang Son for consumption.

On July 29, 2012, after receiving money from Nguyen Cong Hai sent from Vinh City to Que Phong, Thu directly contacted a Laotian named Xi Dinh, then went into the forest to receive 70 heroin cakes and brought them back to her rented room in the teachers' dormitory at Tien Phong Secondary School to hide. That same evening, Thu divided the goods in half, putting 30 cakes in a suitcase and 40 cakes in snake skins to bring back to Vinh to deliver to her partners.

On the morning of July 31, when Thu's sister-in-law Nguyen Thi Dung was delivering goods to Vu Duc Man at Vinh station, she was caught red-handed by the authorities. Based on the suspects' statements, the police searched the room at Tien Phong Secondary School, confiscated 40 more heroin cakes that had not been sold yet and arrested teacher Nguyen Hoai Thu. For the crimes in this ring, in early October 2012, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a trial for the defendants on the charges of illegal drug trafficking and transportation, sentencing them to 1 life sentence and 5 death sentences, in which teacher Thu received the death sentence.

Death row inmate Nguyen Hoai Thu shared: She is the fifth child in a family of 6 siblings, her parents are retired, the family is well-off so all of her siblings have a good education. After graduating from the Faculty of Mathematics at Vinh University, Thu married a man from Que Phong and followed her husband to a new land to start a career. Happiness was short-lived, after giving birth to their first child, the couple had conflicts leading to divorce, Thu moved to live in the school dormitory. The marriage broke down, life was difficult, Thu had to work hard to earn money, with all kinds of jobs, from opening a pho restaurant, grocery store to internet cafe. Teacher Thu's biggest wish at that time was to earn money to buy a small house, so that the mother and child would have a place to live.

The dull life after school hours led Thu to unpredictable relationships, and her fate took a turn when she met the "boss" Nguyen Cong Hai, a notorious drug dealer. The huge sums of money earned from each time she acted as a transporter made this female teacher sink deeper and deeper into the mud of sin, unable to get out until the day she was arrested.

Late Repentance

During her days in prison, Thu repented of her mistakes. The female prisoner confided: “I don’t blame the situation. It’s all my fault. At first, I thought I would join a few trips and then give up, but things weren’t as easy as I thought. When I was arrested, the first thing I thought of was death, because that way I wouldn’t have to face anyone, including my students, colleagues, and parents.”

To make amends, Thu collects monthly family visitation money to support those in difficult circumstances. Recently, the Provincial Police Detention Center in coordination with the Nghe An Red Cross Society visited and gave gifts to encourage Nguyen Dang Hung (10 years old), residing in Hamlet 8, Nhan Son Commune, Do Luong District, who is in particularly difficult circumstances: his father has a mental illness, and his mother left him when Hung was only 3 years old. Every day, after school hours, Hung also takes the time to catch crabs and snails to sell to earn money to support his sick father and his 70-year-old grandmother. When she learned about this trip, the female prisoner in solitary confinement, Nguyen Hoai Thu, sent 3 million VND to support Hung.

After learning about Nguyen Duc Hung's difficult circumstances, prisoner Thu asked the prison's Board of Directors to transfer to him 3 million VND from the monthly deposit.

Thu said: Due to the humane regime of the Board of Supervisors, for many years now, death row inmates awaiting execution have been allowed to subscribe to quarterly newspapers and receive some free copies from the Board of Supervisors. From an article published in Nghe An Newspaper, Thu learned about the difficult situation of Nguyen Dang Hung. “Reading the newspaper, I felt so sorry, the child was about the same age as my son. I felt so sorry that I suggested that the prison officers be allowed to deduct money from the deposit to support him.”

Captain Nguyen Thi Lien, the prison officer in charge of Nguyen Hoai Thu's cell, added that as someone with decades of experience as a prison officer in solitary confinement, she was very surprised when she heard Thu's proposal to send money to support Hung. "In my decades as a prison officer, this is the first time I've heard a death row inmate make such a proposal. After reporting to the team and the prison's Board of Supervisors, receiving Thu's request, we helped Thu fulfill her wish and this female death row inmate was very happy when her small wish became a reality," Captain Lien confided.

Prisoner Thu herself regrets that she is a teacher but is a drug dealer.

Death row inmate Nguyen Hoai Thu said that after the high-level appeal trial, her chances of survival were almost gone, but she never gave up hope. Every day, behind the cold bars, Thu taught herself English from books brought by prison officers.

Thu optimistically shared that she would improve her English skills so that her days in prison would not pass by meaninglessly. And later, if she had a chance to live a new life, Thu would teach foreign languages ​​to other prisoners...

Ha Thu