Two men who brutally murdered five agarwood gatherers have been sentenced to death.

On the morning of May 30th, at the first-instance trial of defendants Ho Van Cong and Ho Van Thanh, who murdered five agarwood gatherers on March 23, 2013, the panel of judges, after questioning and testimony from the defendants, determined that their actions warranted their isolation from society. The presiding judge, Judge Vo Ngoc Hau, sentenced Ho Van Thanh and Ho Van Cong to the highest penalty: death.

The court sentenced two defendants to death for murdering agarwood gatherers.

Kidnap people, demand ransom, then…kill them.

At the trial, defendants Ho Van Cong and Ho Van Thanh both agreed with the contents of the indictment presented by the Prosecutor's Office.

Answering the presiding judge's questions, defendant Ho Van Thanh stated that he went to Cong's house, his brother-in-law's house. He bought a bottle of liquor for the two of them to drink and told Cong that he was setting animal traps. He heard Cong talking about pawning his motorbike and then invited him to Ho Van Nguyen's house. After learning that Nguyen had an AK rifle, the three of them decided to rob people working in the forest, using the method of "taking their property and then forcing them to pay a ransom." According to Thanh's testimony, Cong and Nguyen discussed, "After kidnapping them, we'll dig a hole, and if we get the ransom money, we'll beat them to death and throw them in the hole."

When answering the judge's question about the above testimony, the defendant Cong said: "The officer reading the indictment was correct, but if you ask me to recall it, I can't remember."

According to the defendants Ho Van Thanh and Ho Van Cong, after arriving at Nguyen's house for 10 days, due to Nguyen's busy schedule with elections and a wedding, the four of them—Nguyen, Cong, Thanh, and Thao—went into the forest together. Thanh carried a basket, Nguyen carried a gun, Thao brought two dogs, and Cong carried a knife.

Ho Van Thanh stated that on the second day after going into the forest, while resting, he heard the sounds of digging and cutting trees. At this point, Ho Van Cong told Thao to hold the sack while Thanh, Cong, and Nguyen went towards the source of the digging. Upon discovering the people, Ho Van Nguyen loaded his gun and held them hostage. Ho Van Cong told Ho Van Thanh to get the things, then gave the gun to the defendant to hold. They searched and tied up the three men, restraining them and taking them back to the hut, forcing the defendant to stand guard. “However, the defendant saw that he was alone and unarmed, so he was afraid of the three men even though they were tied up. Therefore, he returned to the hut and let them untie themselves. When the defendant returned and didn't see Thao, he went down to the stream to cook rice. After eating, the defendant told Thao to go home, and then the three of them would go back together, but Cong and Nguyen said they should go back to the hut to sleep and figure things out later,” Thanh testified.

Regarding the execution of the five victims, all of whom were agarwood gatherers, Ho Van Thanh confessed: The following morning, after eating, Nguyen and Cong led Thanh across the hill to a stream where they discovered a hut. The three entered the hut and found seven people inside. Nguyen rushed forward, loaded his gun, and subdued them. Cong and Nguyen made everyone line up, then told Thanh to give them ropes so they could tie them up in a line of six people, with Cong tying the last person in the line. At this point, Nguyen gave the gun to Thanh and they searched the hut.

Thanh's testimony was also confirmed by Ho Van Cong and witness Ha, who was allowed by the three suspects to go home to get the ransom money.

According to Ho Van Cong's testimony, after obtaining the phones and flashlights, "The defendants tied up the victims at 11 am, then led everyone in a line from noon until 1 pm, then stopped. Ho Van Nguyen cooked rice, while Thanh cut the ropes and gave them to Ho Van Cong to tie them more securely, and did not allow the victims to eat lunch with them. After leading the six agarwood gatherers further until dark, the group stopped in a ravine. Ho Van Nguyen cut down trees to build a small shelter, and defendant Cong tied each person to a tree trunk."

Answering questions from the panel of judges, Ho Van Thanh stated that at 11 pm, while lying in a hammock, Ho Van Cong told him to get up to kill people. When the defendant refused, Ho Van Cong ordered him to dig a hole: “Ho Van Nguyen and Ho Van Cong kept saying to kill, so I went down and dug the hole until 1 or 2 am, then came back up and told Cong that I was finished. Cong went down to check the hole, then came back up and told me to take each person down. I held the rope, while Cong used a stick to hit them. If they weren't dead after one hit, he would hit them two or three times,” Ho Van Thanh clearly testified.

Regarding Ho Van Cong's testimony, he stated, "I used both hands to hit the back of the neck, hitting until the victim was dead. Of the five victims, one was still alive and moaning, but when Nguyen shouted that someone had escaped, all three of us went to look for him." Regarding the last victim, Ho Van Thanh testified, "When we returned, the person was already dead, so I grabbed him by the armpit and pushed him into the pit." This contradicts Ho Van Cong's statement in the case file, where he said that when he saw the victim was not yet dead, he told Thanh to throw stones at the victim to kill him.

Witness Hien, the sole survivor of the case, recounted: "The perpetrators gave the victims cigarettes to smoke, then led them away after half a cigarette. After that, I only heard two or three noises, then silence. That's when I realized my friend had been murdered: 'I heard a man named Hien shouting, "Oh my God, murder!" Then I heard one noise and then silence. Taking advantage of the fact that the defendant Nguyen's phone battery had died, he became angry and distracted, so I ran away even though I could only untie my legs,'" Hien recounted.

According to Thanh's testimony, after failing to find Hien, all three returned to fill the hole with earth and then went back to the shack to drink alcohol with Thao. After drinking, all three went to Ho Cong's house and, upon seeing the officers, ran into the forest. They were arrested by the police two days later.

The death penalty…

Representing the Procuratorate, Mr. Nguyen Ba Su proposed to the Trial Panel a combined sentence of death for both defendants. Specifically, defendant Ho Van Cong should be sentenced to death for murder, 18-20 years imprisonment for robbery, 17-19 years imprisonment for kidnapping, and 18-20 years imprisonment for illegal use of military weapons. The total sentence is death.

Defendant Ho Van Thanh was sentenced to death for murder, 18-20 years in prison for robbery, 15-18 years in prison for kidnapping, and 18-20 years for illegal use of military weapons. The total sentence is death penalty.

At the same time, the defendants must compensate the families of the victims for emotional and property damages.

In his final statement, defendant Cong bowed his head and begged the court to allow him to return to his family and society, and to continue raising his two young children. Defendant Thanh apologized to all the victims' families and stated that during his detention he had reflected on his criminal actions, admitting that he committed robbery and murder out of a lack of money. He expressed deep remorse and regret, but due to his limited understanding, he hoped to be allowed to live to correct his mistakes.

On behalf of the panel of judges, Judge Vu Ngoc Hau stated that the defendants' testimonies were consistent with the case file, and that defendants Ho Van Cong and Ho Van Thanh had committed organized murder to conceal their illegal activities.

The trial panel affirmed that Ho Van Cong was the mastermind and most active participant, while Ho Van Thanh eagerly followed Cong's plan. Defendants Cong and Thanh committed exceptionally serious acts, causing widespread public anxiety and leaving immense suffering for the victims' families, as the victims were all breadwinners. Based on this, the trial panel deemed it necessary to isolate them from society. In that spirit, the trial panel handed down sentences related to the charges, with a total penalty of death for both defendants, Ho Van Cong and Ho Van Thanh.

The court also ordered the defendants to fulfill their civil responsibilities to the families of the five victims as stipulated by law.

According to the Transport Newspaper