'Hot boy' welder in Nghe An receives life sentence after 'blind love'

Sudden death

More than a year since her unfortunate daughter passed away, Ms. Lo Thi Th. (residing in Bong Khe commune, Con Cuong district) still cannot forget the pain. She feels sorry for her daughter who was in the prime of her youth, but had to leave this life too soon.

“Since the day my daughter passed away, the house has lacked laughter. Until now, I have to accept the fact that my daughter has passed away, but I still cannot understand why the perpetrator acted so cruelly towards my daughter,” said Mrs. Th.

Recalling the incident more than a year and a half ago, Mrs. Th. said that at around 12 noon on November 29, 2017, after finishing dinner, her daughter, Pham Thi H. (born in 2000), asked permission to go to Cay Chanh market in Anh Son district to buy clothes. I asked her who she was going with and she said she was going with Mr. Quy. “My daughter and Quy have been getting to know each other for a few months now. I also told her that she shouldn’t date at school age, but she promised that it wouldn’t affect her studies, so I kept quiet. Moreover, seeing that Quy was gentle, I also let them hang out with each other. Who would have thought…!”, Mrs. Th. recounted while wiping away tears.

Seeing that Quy was gentle, H.'s mother also allowed the young couple to date each other. Photo: NH

On the second day, the family contacted Quy and heard that Quy was being treated at the hospital for his injuries. When they went to the hospital where Quy was being treated, Quy confirmed that he had taken H. to the front of the house. “At that time, the family did not think anything bad had happened and continued to search. But after more than 2 days without finding any trace of him, we decided to report it to the police,” said Ms. Th.

Upon receiving the report from Mrs. Th.'s family, Con Cuong District Police organized an investigation to clarify the information. H.'s relationships were carefully screened and verified by investigators, but there were no clues. At this time, all suspicions were focused on the young man accompanying H., Pham Van Quy (born in 1994, residing in Tien Thanh village, Chi Khe commune, Con Cuong district).

At the hospital, when questioned by the investigating officer, Quy said that he had taken Hang home at 12:00 a.m. on November 29, 2017. When they reached the roadside booth leading to the house, H. got out of the car. After that, Quy went to Don Phuc commune for some business and did not know where H. was. Quy also posted information on Facebook asking people to look for H.

The scene where the body of victim H was found. Photo: NH

Regarding the injuries on his arm, Quy said that on the way to Don Phuc commune, he was attacked and beaten by a group of young men; he then escaped and on the morning of November 30, 2017, he went to the Southwest Nghe An Regional General Hospital to have his wounds bandaged.

However, the clumsy drama that Quy created could not fool the experienced investigators. In reality, Quy was not surrounded or beaten, but the wound on his hand was caused by a self-inflicted slash. The information Quy provided was inconsistent and even contradictory.

After collecting sufficient evidence and documents, on December 2, 2017, Pham Van Quy was arrested by the police and by the afternoon of the same day, the Investigation Police Agency of Con Cuong District Police issued a decision to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused, and temporarily detain Pham Van Quy for 4 months to investigate the crime of Murder.

Love is blind

After being arrested, Quy showed the police where the victim's body was hidden. Accordingly, H.'s body was hidden on a fairly high hilltop with stairs (about 300 steps), 1 km from Con Cuong town in the direction of Tien Thanh village, Chi Khe commune.

Immediately, Con Cuong District Police cordoned off and protected the scene, and coordinated with the provincial police departments to examine the scene and perform an autopsy. They discovered that the victim had more than 10 stab wounds, including one that hit his heart. The initial cause was determined by the police to be due to a conflict in a love affair, so Quy killed his girlfriend, H.

Police examine the crime scene. Photo: NH

When hearing the news that Quy was arrested for the murder of H., many people who knew the perpetrator did not think that this young man could be so cruel to a female student. "I could not believe it when I saw the photo of the perpetrator in the newspaper. This young man was so fair-skinned, scholarly, and gentle-looking, how could he be so cruel to his lover?", said Mr. Nguyen Huy Cuong, a resident of Bong Khe commune.

According to research, Pham Van Quy is the youngest child in a family of 3 children. Because he is the only son in the family, Quy was spoiled from a young age. After finishing 9th grade, Quy failed the entrance exam to high school, so he dropped out of school and applied to learn welding. Through friends, Quy met H. and the two developed feelings for each other.

As for Quy, due to his playful nature, he got involved in gambling and lottery. Knowing this, H. tried many times to stop him, but Quy still did not give up, causing the two to quarrel frequently. Before committing the crime, Quy had to borrow a large sum of money because he lost the lottery. This made H. depressed and suggested breaking up.

According to the case file, on November 29, 2017, Quy took H. to Pu Mat National Park to confide. There, Quy admitted to H. that he was borrowing money at high interest rates to gamble, and the two argued. H. said she was tired because Quy promised to quit gambling but did not, and asked to break up. H. left, Quy took out a fruit knife from his pocket and put it against her neck, threatening, "I'll kill you."

However, H. did not pay attention to those words and still left, but Quy grabbed his hand, pulled him back and stabbed him many times. Seeing H. dead, Quy dragged the victim's body into the bushes in the forest to hide the evidence. After committing the crime, Quy went down to the river to commit suicide but was swept away by the water about 20m. He was scared, swam to shore and went to an acquaintance's house to ask for a place to sleep.

Defendant Phan Van Quy at the trial. Photo: NH

On May 11, 2018, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought the murder case to trial. At the trial, Quy also repented and said that he was only addicted to gambling, borrowing money at high interest rates to gamble, but was not addicted to drugs that led to being "stoned". Quy also affirmed that his lover asked him to break up with him, so he got angry, could not control himself and stabbed the person he loved to death.

The panel of judges considered that the defendant’s crime was particularly serious, hooliganism, taking the lives of others, causing disorder and insecurity, and should be severely punished. However, considering that the defendant turned himself in, committed the crime for the first time, confessed honestly, repented, and his family voluntarily compensated for some of the consequences for the victim, a lighter sentence should be considered. The panel sentenced Pham Van Quy to life in prison.