Heartbreaking murder of uncle who murdered his nephew

In August 2018, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought the case to trial twice but could not pronounce a verdict. The presiding judge assessed the case as "special" because of the blood relationship between the litigants.

Defendant Nguyen Ba Dinh in court. Photo: Phuong Thao

On August 14, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Ba Dinh (born in 1962), residing in Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city. Defendant Dinh was prosecuted for "murder due to exceeding the limits of legitimate self-defense".

According to the indictment, at around 8:00 p.m. on July 22, 2017, at the death anniversary of Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan's husband (the defendant's sister), Dinh and Mr. Pham Van Dong (the son of another sister of the defendant) had a conflict and quarreled. When people tried to stop him, Nguyen Ba Dinh went home and closed the gate. Pham Van Dong ran into Ms. Lan's house, took a knife and threatened everyone, then ran to Dinh's house with the knife and threatened to kill Nguyen Ba Dinh's entire family; then pushed the gate open and rushed into Dinh's house with the knife.

Nguyen Ba Dinh used a wooden stick to hit Dong, causing him to drop the knife. Dinh continued to hit Dong with a stick many times. Only when he saw Dong staggering towards the door, holding his head, did Dinh stop. Pham Van Dong was taken to the hospital by his family, but died due to severe injuries. Pham Van Dong's cause of death was determined to be "fractured, collapsed skull, and brain hemorrhage due to trauma".

The victim's sister disagreed with the indictment of the Procuracy. Photo: Phuong Thao

At the trial on August 14, the representative of the legal rights and interests of the victim was Ms. T. - Pham Van Dong's younger sister. Ms. T. said that the indictment contained many unreasonable details and requested the court to summon more witnesses to ensure objectivity. Ms. T. also requested that the law strictly judge the actions of the defendant - her uncle and brother.

The trial became tense, all relatives present in court sat silently. When answering the questions of the jury, the defendant Dinh cried many times, saying that he loved his nephew very much and "now does not know how to explain his actions".

After consideration, the panel of judges accepted Ms. T's request to summon more witnesses, and the trial was announced to continue on the afternoon of August 17.

However, at the trial on the afternoon of August 17, based on some testimony of witnesses and a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges decided to return the file for further investigation and clarification of the details to determine the correct crime of the defendant.

Leaving the courtroom, no one said anything to anyone, everyone quietly left, but in the defendant's sister's eyes, there was still clear pain and hatred...