Passenger in debt who murdered taxi driver gets life sentence

On June 3, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial of Nguyen Van Hung (born in 1987, residing in Thuong Tan Loc commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An) for the crime of "Murder". The victim was Dang Dinh T. (residing in hamlet 9, Phuc Son commune, Anh Son), a taxi driver.

Defendant Nguyen Van Hung at trial. Photo: An Quynh.

According to the indictment, Hung confessed that he owed a large sum of money and was being pressured by creditors to pay, so he left home.

After many unsuccessful attempts to borrow money from acquaintances, on the afternoon of August 19, 2021, Hung decided to rob. The "prey" that Hung targeted were taxi drivers.

At around 3:00 p.m. the same day, while walking along the Anh Son - Con Cuong direction on National Highway 7A, Hung saw Mr. T's car parked on the side of the road. Hung immediately approached and asked to be taken to the Chanh tree bridge area. However, when he was near the destination, Hung asked Mr. T. to turn into a deserted road.

When arriving at the tea hill area in Tan Hoi hamlet (Cam Son commune, Anh Son district), Hung told the driver to slow down and then suddenly put a knife to the victim's neck, demanding money. Mr. T. immediately replied, "You dare to rob me?" Then he leaned to the left and turned to the right, seeing that, Hung took the knife and slashed the victim's neck.

The victim was stabbed in the neck and fought back. Seeing this, Hung used a knife to cut the neck and stabbed Dang Dinh T many times in the chest, shoulder, and arm.

Crime scene. Photo archive

Having been stabbed multiple times, Mr. T. opened the door and ran for help, but after running about 100 meters, he collapsed and died. After committing the crime, Nguyen Van Hung fled the scene.

During the investigation, Nguyen Van Hung showed signs of mental illness, so an assessment was requested. The North Central Forensic Psychiatric Institute - Central Forensic Psychiatric Institute - concluded that at the times before, during, and after committing the crime and at the time of assessment, the defendant Nguyen Van Hung suffered from other personality and behavioral disorders due to brain disease, brain damage, or brain dysfunction (with the international classification code F07.8).

Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy issued an indictment to prosecute Nguyen Van Hung for "Murder" with the highest penalty being the death penalty and for robbery with a penalty of 3-10 years in prison.

The defendant has no aggravating circumstances, and many mitigating circumstances such as turning himself in, honestly confessing, repenting, influencing his family to partially remedy the civil consequences, and being a person with limited ability to control his behavior.

During the first instance trial, the victim Dang Dinh T.'s family said that the forensic psychiatric assessment was not objective, inaccurate, and was intended to exonerate Nguyen Van Hung, which made the family feel unsatisfied.

The victim's wife filed a complaint against the forensic psychiatric examination of Nguyen Van Hung, saying it was baseless.

Nguyen Van Hung was arrested immediately after committing the crime.

Regarding this issue, the North Central Forensic Psychiatric Institute has a document confirming that the appraisal records were received in accordance with the correct procedures. The above appraisal results are accurate, scientifically based, accurate and in accordance with regulations, and evaluated completely objectively and with professional conscience and responsibility.

During the examination and assessment of Nguyen Van Hung at the branch, the assessors combined the study of all the records provided by the requesting agency, combined with clinical examination, psychological testing... and the results showed depression (52%), mild anxiety disorder. Based on these results, the conclusion was reached that Nguyen Van Hung had limited ability to control his behavior.

Based on the questioning, public debate at the trial, the evidence collected and evaluated at the trial, the Trial Panel sentenced Nguyen Van Hung to life in prison for “Murder”; 3 years and 6 months in prison for “Robbery”, the total sentence the defendant must serve is life in prison. In civil matters, the defendant is required to compensate the victim nearly 200 million VND for mental damage and funeral expenses, and is required to provide monthly child support of 2.5 million VND until the child turns 18 years old.