Stabbed neighbor to death over cemetery land

On October 21, at the People's Court of Nghe An province, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened a criminal appeal trial of Duong Van Chuong (born 1972), residing in Khanh Son commune, Nam Dan district, for the crime of "Killing”. The victim was Mr. Nguyen Van Th., the defendant's neighbor.

According to the indictment, on the evening of April 9, while drinking, Mr. Th. asked Chuong about his promise to give someone else land to build a cemetery but now did not keep his promise, leading to an argument. Mr. Th. declared that he was "not afraid of anyone" and slammed the bowl down on the tray.

Thinking that Th. did not respect him, Duong Van Chuong ran to get a knife to stab Th. but missed. While Th. bent down to pick up the bowl, Chuong stabbed him again, hitting the victim's right chest.

Defendant Duong Van Chuong. Photo: Tran Vu

Seeing the victim collapse, Chuong ran outside and asked someone to take Mr. Th. to the emergency room. However, due to the seriousness of his injuries, Mr. Th.deathWhen he learned that Mr. Th. had died, Duong Van Chuong went to the police to confess his crime.

At the first instance trial, the defendant admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. After the incident, the defendant's family remedied the situation and compensated the victim 150 million VND. The first instance court sentenced Duong Van Chuong to 18 years in prison for "Murder". Regarding civil liability, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim's legal representative more than 49 million VND; and provide 1 million VND for each of Mr. Th's 3 children until they turn 18 years old.

Then, the defendant filed an appeal for a reduced sentence, and the victim's representative filed an appeal for a reduced sentence for the defendant.

At the appeal court, the defendant maintained the content of the appeal. The victim's representative maintained the content of the petition for a reduced sentence for the defendant because of "humanity".

However, the victim's representative only agreed on the civil part, but on the criminal part, requested the court to handle the defendant according to the law.

The defendant presented that his relatives had compensated the victim's representative 170 million VND to ask the court to consider reducing his sentence.

The appellate court determined that in this case the defendant committed the crime of murder with hooliganism, so the verdict of the first instance court was appropriate. Therefore, the appellate court rejected the defendant's appeal. Sentenced Duong Van Chuong to 18 years in prison for "Murder". Regarding the civil part, the defendant was required to compensate the victim's representative 230 million VND, minus 170 million VND already compensated.