The late tears of a man on trial for the second time for murder

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought defendant Hooc Van Man (born 1976), residing in Muong Tip commune, Ky Son district, to trial for murder. This is not the first time the defendant has appeared in court. Previously, Man was also tried for murder.

After serving his sentence, Man returned to his hometown and married Hoa Thi H (born in 1981). After 14 years of living together, the couple has 7 children. The youngest is currently under 2 years old.

Defendant Hooc Van Man covered his face and cried in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Living in a remote area, the whole family could only rely on farming and government subsidies. Despite their poor circumstances, Man often indulged in alcohol, making life even more difficult. During a drinking session with Hooc Pho V (born in 1964), Man took the life of his cousin.

It was August 13, 2018, Mr. Hooc Pho V called Man to come to his step-son's house to drink alcohol. After drinking 3 bottles of alcohol with his friends, Mr. V got drunk and overturned the dinner tray. Seeing that, Man stood up to leave and was punched and kicked in the arm and left rib by Mr. V.

The next afternoon, Man accidentally saw Mr. V drunk so he took him to his son's house. At this time, Mrs. Moong Thi Kham (Mr. V's wife who was not registered to marry) gave Man 10,000 VND to buy alcohol to drink. During the drinking process, Mr. V apologized to Man and was accepted. After that, this group of people continued to buy more alcohol to drink.

When he was a little drunk, Mr. V chased everyone away and said: "You are still here, want to play with my wife?" Man replied: "Don't say that, your wife is my sister." Immediately after that, Man was punched in the head by Mr. V and kicked in the left side. Angry, Man went to the door of the house, took a wooden stick, which was leaning against the wall of the house, and hit Mr. V on the head, causing the victim to fall onto the bed, bleeding from the nose and ears. After beating the victim, Man went home to sleep.

The victim was taken to the hospital by people for emergency treatment, but died on August 25, 2018. Forensic examination results concluded that Mr. Hooc Van V died from a skull fracture.

Small in stature, Man stood timidly behind the witness stand, admitting to all his crimes. The court asked, “What do you think about your actions?”. Man replied, “I am very remorseful.” “Why did you, who was once tried for murder, reoffend?”. In response to the court’s question, Man stated that he was angry because he had been beaten by Mr. V twice before, and while drunk, he could not control his actions.

The Procuracy believes that the origin of the incident was the defendant's hooliganism. "The defendant himself had committed murder once, but reoffended. It was his hooliganism that was the underlying cause that led him to commit such a serious crime," the representative of the Procuracy stated.

Attending the trial as the legal representative of the victim, Mr. V's son requested a trial in accordance with the law and civil compensation. "My father is dead, no amount of money can compensate, I only ask the court to consider allowing us to enjoy our rights in accordance with the law," the victim's son stated.

In his final words, Man apologized to the victim’s family and his wife and children. The defendant’s speech was constantly interrupted by sobs. Man raised his handcuffed hands to cover his face and cried… Only then did his wife, sitting behind him, dare to move to the top row of seats to be near her husband. She kept hugging the empty seats and sobbing. A few times, Man turned down but wiped away his tears and looked up. Only when the time for sentencing was near did Man tell his wife to “try to raise the children”.

Defendant Hooc Van Man's wife burst into tears when she "reunited" with her husband in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Her husband was arrested when their youngest child was just over a year old. Now the child is almost two years old, but due to her circumstances, she did not bring her young child to court. The poor woman only brought along the older children and a bag containing an old blanket to give to her husband when the season began to change.

For the crime of murder, Hooc Van Man was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The defendant was ordered to compensate the victim’s family more than 143 million VND, and to provide monthly support for the victim’s youngest daughter of 500,000 VND until she turns 18.

The court ended just after noon. Under the dry sun, the mother of seven children ran after the van to deliver the items she had painstakingly prepared to her husband.