Stabbed someone to death because he thought he was being 'stared at'

On August 9, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendants Ho Ngoc Sao (born 1986) and Nguyen Van The (born 1994), both residing in Hung Phuc commune, Hung Nguyen district, for the crime of "Murder".

Two defendants Nguyen Viet Cuong (born 1999) and Nguyen The Vu (born 2001), residing in Hung Phuc commune, were charged with "Concealing criminals".

According to the indictment, on the evening of May 8, 2023, Sao and The went to drink beer at a bar in Hung Nhan commune, Hung Nguyen district. At around 9:00 p.m., Nguyen Xuan H. (born in 1980), residing in Hung Thanh commune) and a group of friends came to drink coffee.

While drinking beer, The looked over and said to Mr. H. "Why are you looking at me like that?" A friend who was with Mr. H. replied "It's nothing, man." A moment later, Mr. H. and his friend took a pipe and a plastic chair and beat The and Sao, so they both ran away.

On the way home, The and Sao called a group of friends, including Nguyen The Vu and Nguyen Viet Cuong, to ask them to pick them up. When they met, Sao told everyone that he and The were beaten and ran away, and that their motorbike and phone were at the shop, so he asked his friends to help him get his things back.

Before leaving, Sao and The both had homemade knives ready. While the group was walking, they met the owner of the restaurant and were told that there were many people on the other side. Hearing that, the group of friends were scared and did not dare to go any further, only The and Sao continued.

At that time, Mr. H.'s group was standing in front of the shop. When they saw Sao and The coming with weapons, they picked up rocks and threw them while running away. Seeing that, The took a knife and chased Mr. H.'s group but was too late.

Sao ran into the shop and saw Mr. H. there. The two sides hugged and struggled, Sao used a knife to stab Mr. H. in both thighs 3 times, causing him to suffer from acute blood loss shock due to the punctured artery. Although the victim was taken to the emergency room by everyone, he died.

After stabbing the man, Sao told The, Cuong, and Vu about the incident. At this time, Vu took the knife that Sao had just committed the crime with and his pig-stabbing knife and threw them into the canal. Cuong also took The's pig-stabbing knife and threw them into the canal to destroy the evidence.

Cuong then lent Sao and The his motorbike to escape, making it difficult for the investigation and search for evidence. On July 5 and 7, 2023, The and Sao turned themselves in to the police.

At the trial, the defendants admitted to the crimes as charged and expressed remorse, asking the court to consider reducing their sentences.

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced defendant Ho Ngoc Sao to 19 years in prison and Nguyen Van The to 15 years in prison for "Murder". For "Concealing a criminal", defendants Nguyen Viet Cuong and Nguyen The Vu received sentences of 7 to 9 months in prison.