Man stabs girlfriend to death while under the influence of methamphetamine.

(Baonghean.vn) - On January 11, the High People's Court opened a criminal appeals trial for defendant Nguyen Van Thang (31 years old, residing in Hamlet 20, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City, Nghe An Province) on the charge of 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 province) gathered with a group of friends to use drugs. Afterwards, Thang asked Thich to drive him home on his motorbike. On the way, Thich stole a sharp knife and gave it to Thang, who was sitting behind him.

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

While walking along 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 methamphetamine use, Thang hallucinated that Tu Anh had cast a love spell on him. Thang told Tu Anh: "You need to break the spell for me, we can't be together."

Ms. Tu Anh said, "Don't go crazy from using so much methamphetamine" (meaning he was using too much of it). Thang raised his left hand to grab the knife and used his right hand to slap Ms. Tu Anh in the face, saying, "Get in the car and go home to get rid of the curse for me."

When Ms. Tú Anh refused to have the curse removed, Thắng stabbed her in the chest with a knife, causing her to collapse on the sidewalk. Afterward, Thắng and Thích took Ms. Tú Anh to Nghệ An Friendship General Hospital on a motorbike for emergency treatment. Due to the severity of her injuries, Ms. Tú Anh passed away.

Thang asked Thich to drive him to Ha Tinh, but Thich didn't hear Thang say to stop at a specific address, so he drove straight to Quang Binh to hide. Later, Thich returned to his hometown and learned that Tu Anh had died, but he didn't report Thang to the police.

On October 15, 2014, Thich was arrested and detained by the Vinh City Police for illegally trafficking narcotics. During his detention at the Nghe An Provincial Police Detention Center, Thich wrote a complaint accusing Thang of stabbing and killing Ms. Tu Anh. The Nghe An Provincial Police issued an arrest warrant for Thang.

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

On the morning of June 16, 2015, the 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 with 69 million VND and provide 1 million VND per month to support Tu Anh's two young children until they reach the age of 18.

In late June 2015, Thang filed an appeal to the appellate court requesting a reduced sentence. The husband of the victim, Ms. Tu Anh, also submitted a request for a reduced sentence for Thang. However, at the appellate trial, Ms. Tu Anh's husband withdrew his appeal for a lighter sentence.

At the appellate trial, Thang claimed that he had used methamphetamine before committing the crime and therefore believed that Tu Anh had cast a love spell on him, but this did not provide any new evidence to be considered for a reduced sentence. Therefore, the trial court rejected Thang's appeal and upheld the 20-year prison sentence for murder.

Khanh An