Brother-in-law kills sister-in-law over motorbike

On the morning of June 24, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Van Duong (born 1981), residing in Nghia Hung commune, Nghia Dan district, for the crimes of Murder and Intentional Infliction of Injury.

Duong has an older brother, Nguyen Van Hop (born in 1971). During their time together, Mr. Hop and his wife, Ms. Vo Thi X. (born in 1976), often had conflicts. In September 2018, Mr. Hop and Ms. X. separated. The shared house was divided in half, each person using a room separated by a wooden cabinet. The shared property was also divided in half, except for the motorbike that Mr. Hop often used as a means of transport, which was managed by Ms. X. Therefore, every time Mr. Hop went to work, he had to borrow his younger brother's motorbike.

Defendant at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

On December 27, 2018, Duong went to work by bicycle. Tired and angry because Ms. X. used his brother's motorbike, he immediately had the idea of ​​taking a knife to Ms. X.'s house to resolve the conflict.

At around 6:30 p.m. on December 27, Duong had dinner with his mother and brother. During the meal, Duong had a few glasses of wine with everyone. At around 7:30 p.m. the same day, Duong went down to the kitchen to get a knife and walked to Ms. X's house. When he got there, he saw the door closed and the lights were still on. Duong loudly called out, "Ms. X." but no one responded.

Because the door to Mr. Hop's room was still open, Duong went inside and jumped over the wooden cabinet separating the two rooms. At that time, Ms. X. and her daughter, Nguyen Thi N. (born in 2003), were sitting playing on their phones. Duong approached and slashed Ms. X.'s head many times with a knife, causing the victim to collapse... Seeing her mother being slashed, N. ran over and used both her hands to cover her mother's head, but was also slashed by Duong.

Duong left, told his relatives everything, then went to the police station to confess. Due to severe injuries, Ms. Vo Thi X. died, and N. was taken to the hospital for treatment.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to committing the crime as stated in the indictment. Duong said he was angry due to previous conflicts, and because his sister-in-law took his brother’s motorbike. “That day, the defendant drank a little alcohol and could not control his actions,” the defendant said.

Attending the trial, representatives of those related to the victim requested the court to handle the right person for the right crime. Considering the case in its entirety, the panel sentenced Nguyen Van Duong to 20 years in prison for murder, 7 years in prison for intentional injury, a total sentence of 27 years in prison. Regarding the civil part, the defendant was ordered to compensate the victim's two children nearly 180 million VND, and to provide more than 1 million VND in child support for N. each month until she turns 18.