Stabbed friend to death after drug hallucination

On April 13, the Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Moong Pho Lich (born 1983, residing in Keng Du commune, Ky Son) for murder.

Moong Pho Lich in court. Photo: Nhu Binh

According to the indictment, on July 7, 2017, Moong Pho Lich, Luong Pho Thin and two other men in the village used a boat to cross the Nam Non River to Bo Nhia village cluster (Noong Het commune, Xieng Khouang province, Lao PDR) to saw wood for Vi Van Hang.

Hang gave this group of carpenters drugs (pink pills) “to have the strength to work”. After using drugs, Moong Pho Lich had hallucinations, thinking that Mr. Thin was planning to attack him. Lich used a knife he carried to stab Mr. Thin in the liver, causing the victim to die on the spot, and stabbed himself in the neck and stomach.

After committing the crime, Moong Pho Lich swam across the river to return home. Lich went to Keng Du Commune Police to hand over the weapon and was taken to a medical facility by his family to treat his injuries. On July 9, 2017, Moong Pho Lich went to Ky Son District Police to surrender and report all of his crimes.

At the trial, Moong Pho Lich admitted to the crime as stated in the indictment. However, Lich claimed that Mr. Thin intended to kill him so he stabbed him, but Lich could not provide evidence that Mr. Thin attacked him.

Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Moong Pho Lich to 13 years in prison for “Murder”, forcing the defendant to compensate the victim 70 million VND as agreed between the two parties (Lich’s family voluntarily compensated nearly 25 million VND after the incident occurred).