Stabbed girlfriend to death in meth hallucination

(Baonghean.vn)- On January 11, the High People's Court opened a criminal appeal trial for defendant Nguyen Van Thang (31 years old, residing in Hamlet 20, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City, Nghe An) for murder.

According to the indictment, on the night of July 25, 2014, Thang and Ho Ngoc Thich (29 years old, residing in Vinh City, Nghe An) went out with a group of friends to use drugs. Afterwards, Thang asked Thich to take him home by motorbike. On the way, Thich stole a sharp knife and gave it to Thang to hold while sitting behind.

Defendant Nguyen Van Thang at the mobile appeal trial at the headquarters of Nghe An Provincial People's Court.

While passing Nguyen Sy Sach Street, Thang saw Nguyen Thi Tu Anh (born in 1975, residing in Ha Huy Tap Ward, Vinh City) - Thang's girlfriend, standing on the sidewalk. Due to using crystal meth, Thang was paranoid that he was under a love spell by Tu Anh. Thang told Tu Anh: "Watch your teeth and break the spell for me, you and I cannot be together."

Tu Anh said: “Don’t be crazy if you use too much meth” (meaning using too much crystal meth). Thang raised his left hand to hold the knife and used his right hand to slap Tu Anh in the face and said: “Get in the car and go home and break the spell for me.”

Tu Anh refused to go and remove the spell, so Thang stabbed her in the chest with a knife, causing her to fall to the sidewalk. Thang and Thich then took her to Nghe An General Hospital on a motorbike for emergency treatment. Due to her severe injuries, Tu Anh died.

Thang told Thich to take Thang to Ha Tinh, but Thich did not see Thang tell him to stop the car at a specific address, so he drove straight to Quang Binh to hide. After that, Thich returned to his hometown and learned that Tu Anh had died, but did not report Thang to the police.

On October 15, 2014, Thich was temporarily detained by Vinh City Police for illegal drug trafficking. During his time in detention at Nghe An Provincial Police Detention Center, Thich wrote a complaint against Thang for stabbing Tu Anh to death with a knife. Nghe An Provincial Police issued a wanted notice for Thang.

On December 4, 2014, Thang returned to Vinh City and was arrested by the police.

On the morning of June 16, 2015, Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a first-instance trial and sentenced Thang to 20 years in prison for murder and Thich to 18 months in prison for failing to report a crime.

Thang must compensate the victim's family 69 million VND and must provide 1 million VND per month to raise Tu Anh's two children until they are 18 years old.

At the end of June 2015, Thang appealed to the appellate court for a reduced sentence. The husband of the victim, Ms. Tu Anh, also filed a petition requesting a reduced sentence for Thang. However, at the appellate court, Ms. Tu Anh's husband withdrew his appeal for a reduced sentence.

At the appeal trial, Thang claimed that he had used crystal meth before committing the crime, so he thought Tu Anh had cast a love spell, but there was no new evidence to consider reducing his sentence. Therefore, the first instance panel of judges rejected Thang's appeal and upheld his sentence of 20 years in prison for murder.

Khanh An