Young man shot dead dog thief after being threatened with revenge

On January 18, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial to try defendant Nguyen Van Thanh (born 1986), residing in Nghi Xuan commune, Nghi Loc district, for the crime of "Murder". Defendant Mach Loc Chien (born 1998), residing in Phuc Tho commune, Nghi Loc district, was prosecuted for the crime of "Theft of property".

Defendant Thanh is severely disabled and was born deaf and mute.

According to the case file, on the morning of October 25, 2020, Tran Quang H. (born 2001) drove a motorbike to Chien's house and invited him to go out.dog, sell for money to spend.

Defendant Chien (in black shirt) and defendant Thanh in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Before leaving, the two went to the cemetery to get dog-catching tools including: 1 electric shocker, 2 knives... Then, Chien and H. went to Nghi Thai and Nghi Xuan communes to steal 3 dogs. Because a dog weighs 25 kg and is difficult to put in a bag, the two dragged the dog to the cemetery to put it in a bag.

At the same time, Thanh brought a homemade gun out of the cemetery to shoot birds and saw Chien and H. putting dogs in bags so he shouted.

Seeing Thanh holding up his phone as if to take a photo, H. and Chien took out knives and threatened him. H. said, "Come here and I will kill your father."

Threatened by two dog thieves and fearing revenge, Thanh raised his gun and fired one shot, hitting H's left rib.

After being shot, H. swerved and crashed into bushes on the side of the road. Seeing his friend being shot, and fearing that people would chase and beat him for stealing a dog, Chien fled.

That same evening, upon hearing the news of H.'s death, Chien went to the police to confess to his and his accomplice's dog theft. Thanh later also went to the police to confess to the murder.

At the trial, defendant Chien confessed that he stole because he was addicted to drugs. Defendant Thanh confessed that he bought the gun and bullets online to shoot birds. When he saw Chien and H. threatening him and was afraid of retaliation, defendant Thanh shot H. but did not intend to kill anyone.

The panel of judges determined that defendant Nguyen Van Thanh committed the crime in a state of emotional agitation due to the victim's illegal actions; the defendant proactively compensated the victim's family, which were mitigating circumstances, so they sentenced him to 4 years in prison for murder.

For the crime of theft of property, defendant Mach Loc Chien was sentenced to 15 months in prison.