Sentenced for stabbing ex-wife's boyfriend
After the divorce, Duc took his children to his ex-wife for a few days, but she did not open the door. When he discovered a man in his ex-wife's room, Duc chased after him and stabbed him multiple times with scissors.
On November 18, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendant Pham Van Duc (born 1989), residing in Dong Loc commune (Nghe An province) for murder.
Pham Van Duc and Ms. Nguyen Thi M. are a divorced couple. At around 7:30 p.m. on December 23, 2024, Duc invited his younger brother to take his three children to see his ex-wife to ask her to take care of them for a few days.
After hiring a car to take everyone to the boarding house in Dien Chau commune - where Ms. M. lived, Duc saw that the gate of the boarding house was closed so he climbed over the wall to get in. At this time, Duc continued to call Ms. M. but his ex-wife did not answer, nor did she open the door.
Duc turned to the car to carry the children in and saw the driver's iron scissors on the car door. Duc took the scissors and asked his younger brother to help carry the two children in for Ms. M.
When he arrived at the door of the rented room, Duc called his ex-wife while using iron scissors to poke the door hard, breaking a piece of glass. Then, Duc reached inside to unlock the door, pushed the door open, and saw his ex-wife and Mr. Nguyen Van T. (born 1987) in the room.
Mr. T. ran out of the room but was chased and beaten by Duc. T. hid in the landlord's room but Duc chased after him and stabbed him many times with scissors in the head, neck, shoulder and chest.
The victim resisted and ran away, fell down, and was immediately hit 4 times in the face and head by Duc with a plastic kettle. Then he continued to stab the victim with scissors in many places, the last hit hitting Mr. T.'s shoulder, causing him to collapse on the bed.
After stabbing the man, Duc went home to sleep. The next morning, when he learned that Mr. T. was being treated at the hospital, Duc went to the police station to confess and hand over the murder weapon.
The victim was treated at the hospital until January 2, 2025. The investigation agency determined that the victim's body injury rate was 21%.
At the trial, the defendant admitted his crime. He stated that he had taken his children to his ex-wife to look after for a few days while he went to work, but his ex-wife did not open the door.
After entering the rented room and seeing Mr. T. living with his ex-wife, the defendant "was so upset that he could not control himself" and his behavior became out of control.
The defendant stated that he suspected his ex-wife of having an affair before the couple divorced but could not provide any evidence.
At the trial, the defendant apologized to the victim. The victim attending the trial asked for a reduced sentence for the defendant.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions constituted murder. After a comprehensive review of the case, the court sentenced Pham Van Duc to 12 years in prison.
