Killed his wife because he couldn't get her back

Murder in the Bathroom

At 5:00 p.m. on September 2, 2015, Yen Thanh District Police received a report from Son Thanh Commune Police Department that a murder had occurred at Mr. Tran Ba ​​Dem's house in Hamlet 2, Son Thanh Commune.

Accordingly, Mr. Dem's family discovered that Mrs. Tran Thi Du (born in 1969, also living in Hamlet 2, Son Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District), Mr. Dem's daughter, was lying dead in the family bathroom. At the scene, there was also a knife and a wooden stick covered in blood.

Defendant Nguyen Huu Khinh at the trial. Photo: HSVA

Upon receiving the news, the leaders of Yen Thanh District Police immediately sent officers to the scene to grasp the situation, protect the scene, and coordinate with the Provincial Police to examine the scene and perform an autopsy. At the same time, they deployed investigation work, verified information, and quickly arrested the perpetrator.

Through investigation, with sharp professional measures, the police identified the main culprit as Nguyen Huu Khinh (born in 1964, residing in hamlet 2, Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district). It is worth mentioning that the main culprit was the husband who had lived with the victim for many years.

After committing the crime, Nguyen Huu Khinh fled and was not present at his residence, making it difficult for the investigation. However, through many sources of information, the police tracked down the suspect and determined that the suspect was hiding on a hill near his house. At about 9:15 p.m. the same day, the district police successfully arrested suspect Nguyen Huu Khinh.

At the investigation agency, Nguyen Huu Khinh initially admitted to killing his wife. Khinh said that due to family conflicts, he could not control himself and used a wooden stick to hit Mrs. Du on the head and used a knife to slash her head. After committing the crime, Khinh fled to the mountains and was arrested by the authorities not long after.

Although knowing that Mr. Khinh and his wife's marriage was not happy due to his unreasonable jealousy, Mrs. Du's death also made many neighbors confused. Mr. Khinh and his wife had been married for 25 years and had 4 children. The children worked far away, the couple lived with their youngest son who was 15 years old at that time.

Ms. Nguyen Thi B. - a neighbor of Mr. Khinh and his wife said: “Mr. Khinh is very jealous but also loves his wife very much. He is always proud of his wife's youth and beauty. Perhaps he loves his wife so much that he always thinks that someone else is flirting with her. When he gets jealous, he criticizes, curses, and sometimes beats his wife. For the past 2 years, Mr. Khinh and his wife's life has not been very harmonious, the reason is also because of his jealousy. Several times, Mrs. Du went back to her parents' house to live, but Mr. Khinh came over to beg and make promises, so Mrs. Du relented. Unexpectedly, this time the murder happened.”

It is known that about 10 days before the murder, Mr. Khinh and his wife had a conflict. This time, unable to bear her husband's erratic temper, Mrs. Du returned to her parents' house and filed for divorce in court.

Mr. Tran Van Thai - Mrs. Du's younger brother said that when his sister went back to her parents' house to live, Mr. Khinh often came over, sometimes begging, sometimes threatening his wife to return home and give up the idea of ​​divorce. Not only threatening his wife, Nguyen Huu Khinh also called to threaten Ms. Du's family. On the afternoon of September 2, Mr. Khinh went to his wife's parents' house again, begging his wife to return, but Mrs. Du did not agree. The two argued loudly, leading to the heartbreaking incident above.

Many acquaintances, relatives and neighbors attended Nguyen Huu Khinh's trial. Photo: HSVA.

The high price of blind jealousy

On the morning of April 6, 2016, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance criminal trial of the murder case against Nguyen Huu Khinh. From early morning, many relatives of both the victim and the defendant were present at the court to wait and follow the trial. This was a horrifying murder case that once stirred up the entire countryside.

The victim's representative was present at the trial on the morning of April 6, 2016. Photo: HSVA

At the trial, the long-standing family conflicts emerged through the testimonies and accusations of both sides. Nguyen Huu Khinh served in the army for a time, and returned to his hometown with a disability rate of 1/4. According to Khinh's sister, due to the effects of his injuries and drinking, Khinh could not control his behavior, and sometimes when drunk, he wandered around until morning.

Khinh's children also admitted that every time their father drank, he beat their mother. Du's younger brother said that in addition to physical abuse, Khinh also abused his wife mentally and sexually. Many times Du returned to her parents' house to escape her husband with injuries on her body. Unable to bear the abuse, Du returned to her parents' house and filed for divorce in court.

On the afternoon of September 2, 2015, Nguyen Huu Khinh went to his wife's parents' house to meet her and try to win her back. Du replied, "I won't come back for a minute, I won't come back for half a minute." Angry, Khinh punched his wife in the face and then used a wooden stick to repeatedly hit Du's face and head, causing the victim to fall into the well.

Not stopping there, Khinh grabbed the knife nearby and slashed his wife twice more in the neck. Seeing Ms. Du lying motionless, Khinh fled. After that, the subject ran up to Cua mountain (bordering Yen Thanh district and Do Luong district). At about 9:30 p.m. the same day, Nguyen Huu Khinh was arrested by Yen Thanh district police.

The forensic conclusion of the Criminal Techniques Department of Nghe An Provincial Police showed that the victim Tran Thi Du died of shock, severe blood loss, severed left artery and jugular vein, and multiple injuries.

During the investigation, Nguyen Huu Khinh's family said that this person suffered from mental illness and had been treated at the hospital. The investigation agency requested a forensic psychiatric examination of this suspect. The conclusion of the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry stated that "before, during, after and at the time of the examination, the suspect Nguyen Huu Khinh suffered from organic emotional disorder (F06.3). The suspect had the ability to perceive and had limited control over his behavior."

At the trial, Nguyen Huu Khinh gave a vague statement and said he did not remember what had happened. The reason his wife left to return to her parents' house, according to Khinh, was because he caught her texting another man. Out of jealousy, Khinh beat his wife, so she asked for a divorce. Faced with allegations of abuse, Khinh initially admitted to "occasionally, just slapping her a few times" but later insisted he did not beat his wife.

Nguyen Huu Khinh burst into tears in court, regretting his crimes and affirming that he “loves his wife very much”. Photo: HSVA

Although the defendant’s children, who were present at the trial, affirmed that their father had repeatedly beaten their mother, they all asked the panel of judges to consider reducing their father’s sentence “so that their father could come home soon to take care of them.” Many times, the defendant’s children bowed their heads behind their mother’s portrait and cried, but always asked the panel of judges to reduce their father’s sentence.

When he was given his last words, Nguyen Huu Khinh burst into tears: "I beg the court, I beg my parents to forgive me. I love my wife very much." When he was taken to the chair to wait for the panel of judges to deliberate, Nguyen Huu Khinh kept turning towards his wife's portrait, crying bitterly.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were extremely serious, brutally depriving another person of life, and that the crime was of a hooligan nature… and required strict punishment. However, the defendant had limited control over his actions, was a severely disabled veteran, and had a family with revolutionary contributions…

Considering the case comprehensively, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Huu Khinh to 13 years in prison, lower than the 14-15 years in prison proposed by the representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province.