Murder at a wedding because of… a mat

On September 25, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a trial of defendant Pham Van Manh (born 1983), residing in Van Loi commune, Quy Hop district, for the crime of "Killing"The victim in the case is Mr. Bach Van Ch. (born 1967).

Manh and Mr. Ch. knew each other. On the afternoon of April 7, 2023, they both went to a neighbor's house to attend a wedding. After eating and drinking, Ch. asked Manh to "spread out a mat so we can play cards for a bit" but Manh did not agree, so the two sides exchanged words.

Manh went to the well yard to get a knife and hid it in his shirt. When he came back, he saw Mr. Ch. and Manh went to his side and said, "If you said you wanted to go out, then go out."

During the argument, Manh pulled out a knife and stabbed Mr. Ch. Even though the victim ran away, Manh still chased after him with a knife and stabbed him in the back.

Seeing this, Manh's wife and a neighbor ran after him to stop him but were unsuccessful. As Manh continued to stab the victim, his wife rushed to hug her husband, causing them both to fall.

Despite his wife's efforts to stop him, Manh jumped up and attacked Mr. Ch. His wife managed to hold onto her husband's knife, and a neighbor promptly took away the weapon.

Although the victim was taken to the emergency room by everyone, due to severe injuries, he died from acute circulatory failure, the penetrating chest wound puncturing the heart sac and heart.

At the trial, Manh stated that when the victim asked the defendant to bring out the mat to play cards, the defendant did not agree because he did not want to affect the atmosphere of the homeowner's wedding.

“Because the victim threatened “if you step out on the street I will kill you”, the defendant was angry. That day, there was also alcohol so the defendant could not control his actions,” the defendant stated in court.

After the incident, Manh’s family compensated the victim with more than 42 million VND in funeral expenses. At the trial, the two sides agreed that the defendant Manh would compensate the victim’s family with an additional 180 million VND in mental damages.

The panel of judges determined that in this case, the defendant’s intentional commission of the crime was an aggravating circumstance. However, it is also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendant, such as his surrender, honest confession, remorse, and the family’s compensation for all mental damage to the victim.

Therefore, the court sentenced the defendant Pham Van Manh to 20 years in prison. Regarding the civil part, the court ordered the defendant to pay the victim’s mother 1.5 million VND per month until her death.