Not attending his nephew's full month party, the older brother was murdered by his younger brother.
The defendant and the victim were brothers, living in the same village. Both were grandfathers and had many children and grandchildren. However, because the older brother did not attend his grandchild’s full-month party, the younger brother took his brother’s life.
Cold stabs
The relationship between Bui Van Thuan (born in 1964) and Mr. Bui Van H. (born in 1950), residing in Vien Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (Nghe An) is not only neighbors but also blood brothers. Both were born and raised in a family with difficult circumstances when the couple had 11 children.
When they reached adulthood, the two brothers got married. Since they lived in the same village, they often visited each other's houses, sharing the joys and sorrows of life. As time passed, their children got married one after another. Thuan and Mr. H. both became grandfathers, living peacefully with their children and grandchildren.
But then, their peaceful life was no longer there since the baby's full month party. That day, just because his brother did not come to the baby's full month party, Thuan "poured out a rain of knives" and killed his brother in his own house.
Specifically, on the afternoon of May 13, 2024, Bui Van Thuan's family held a full-month party for their grandson. After the party, Thuan did not see his brother, Mr. H., so he rode his motorbike to his brother's house to ask what was going on. Before entering his brother's house, Thuan took a sharp knife and put it in the back of his pants.
At that time, Mr. H. was lying on a hammock in front of his house when Thuan asked him why he did not come to his grandchild's full-month party. Mr. H. replied that he was busy, then Thuan thought that his brother looked down on his family, so he pulled out a knife and stabbed Mr. H. many times in the face, shoulder, neck, and chest.
At that time, Mr. H.'s granddaughter was washing dishes in the well yard and witnessed the incident, so she ran to a neighbor's house to call for help. Immediately after, two neighbors, Mr. Nguyen Vinh B. (born in 1956) and Ms. Bui Thi Th. (born in 1980) rushed over to stop the incident, but were also stabbed in the back and stomach by Thuan.
After stabbing his two neighbors, Thuan turned around and saw his older brother sitting on a hammock. Like a bloodthirsty beast, Thuan ran to stab his older brother many times. Having to endure the stabs of his younger brother, Mr. Bui Van H. died on the spot. The investigation agency determined that the cause of death was due to a wound that punctured the heart, lungs...
As for the perpetrator, after committing the crime, Bui Van Thuan took some personal belongings and fled to Nghia Dan district (Nghe An) to hide. At dawn the next day, the perpetrator was arrested by the police. With the above crime, Bui Van Thuan was prosecuted and brought to trial for "Murder".
The pain of "cooking flesh and blood"
The trial of defendant Bui Van Thuan took place on a day at the end of 2024. From early morning, many people were present at the provincial court. Most of them were relatives, brothers and sisters of the defendant and the victim. Everyone's face showed sadness, they sat quietly while waiting for the court to come to work.
In the row of seats reserved for the victim’s legal representatives, Mr. H’s two children kept bowing their heads, sad. Especially when they saw the defendant escorted to court, they cried even more. Before the heartbreaking incident happened, they had an uncle-niece relationship. However, the uncle’s anger pushed the two families into tragedy.
When meeting his nephews, siblings, and relatives at the trial, Thuan bowed his head. Occasionally, the defendant wiped his face with his hand. When questioned by the court about his motive for committing the crime, the defendant explained that he was angry that his brother did not attend his grandson's full-month party even though his family had invited him. "That day, his siblings, relatives, neighbors, and in-laws all attended the party, but his brother did not come. That made him angry. When the defendant went to his house to ask the reason, he said he was busy. He said, "You take care of the guests yourself, I'm busy and can't come." I thought he looked down on my family and did not respect the invitation, so I acted like that," the defendant testified.
When asked by the jury why he repeatedly stabbed his own brother, the defendant bowed his head and replied that he was angry and could not control himself. The judge continued to question: "Why did you not stop when two neighbors came to stop you but instead stabbed them?" At this time, the defendant answered: Because the neighbor pulled him, causing him to fall backwards, he became angry and turned around and stabbed them all over.
The defendant admitted that his actions were wrong and violated the law. After realizing his mistakes, the defendant influenced his relatives to pay for hospital bills, medicine for his neighbor, and funeral for his brother.
According to the defendant’s family, the family has compensated the two neighbors 1 billion VND. As for the elder brother, both families asked to resolve the matter themselves without requesting consideration at this trial.
In the presence of the victim’s legal representative, the defendant bowed his head and apologized. “Let me apologize to the children and their families,” the defendant said in court, also apologizing to his relatives, brothers, and family members who attended the court.
The victim's daughter, who attended the trial, cried when she heard the defendant's testimony. She said she was heartbroken over her father's death. It was even more heartbreaking when the perpetrator was none other than her uncle. The sudden death of her father left her children and grandchildren in the family in great shock. The children lost their father and the grandchildren lost their grandfather.
Speaking in court, she requested the panel of judges to try the defendant according to the law. Meanwhile, two neighbors did not attend the court but submitted a petition to reduce the defendant Thuan's sentence.
The panel of judges determined that in this case, the defendant had aggravating circumstances in that he committed the crime to the end and committed the crime against a person over 70 years old, so he should be severely punished for general deterrence and prevention. However, it is also necessary to consider mitigating circumstances for the defendant such as his honest confession, remorse, his influence on the family to remedy the consequences for the two victims, the defendant had participated in the fight to protect the Fatherland, and participated in the new rural movement...
Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced defendant Bui Van Thuan to life in prison for "Murder". As for the civil part, because both parties asked to reach an agreement, the court did not consider it.
The trial ended with a verdict for the defendant, but the pain of the defendant’s and the victim’s relatives still remains. The defendant’s anger pushed two families into a great tragedy, which has been simmering for a long time.
