Young man stabs two people to death in defense of his friend.

On September 24, 2020, the High People's Court held an appeal hearing for the case.Nguyen Xuan Ngoc(Born in 2001); residing in Hamlet 7, Dien Tho Commune, Dien Chau District, charged with "murder" due to an appeal requesting a reduction in sentence.

Ngoc is the defendant in the case.Two young men were stabbed to death at night after being refused a drink.The incident in Dien Chau district once caused a public uproar.

According to the indictment: Ngoc was a worker at a company based in Hanoi. On December 12, 2019, Ngoc returned from Hanoi to his hometown for a military conscription examination. At approximately 9:30 PM on December 16, while sitting and drinking coffee, Ngoc asked his friend Hoang Trung (born in 1999) to drive him to National Highway 1A to catch a bus to Hanoi.

Afterward, Ngoc went home first to pack her luggage, which included a fruit peeling knife. Once ready, Ngoc called Trung to pick her up to catch a bus. At that time, Trung was eating snails with friends from Dien Tho commune. As Trung was about to stand up to leave to pick up Ngoc, Cao Thai D. (born 1997, Dien Trung commune), Le Van A. (born 2000), and Cao Van Ch. (born 1994, both residing in Dien An commune) came over to toast them.

Defendant Nguyen Xuan Ngoc at the trial.

Seeing Trung get up to leave, D., A., and Ch. followed him, stopped his motorbike, and said, "Why are you leaving when we came to offer you a drink?" Trung replied, "I have to go pick up a friend to catch a bus to Hanoi. I'll drink with you later." After that, Trung went to Ngoc's house to pick her up and drove her along the inter-communal road towards Dien Tho - Dien Loc. Seeing this, D., A., and Ch. also got on their motorbikes and chased after them.

When he caught up, Trung stopped his motorbike and asked the group of young men, "What's the matter?" At this point, A. said, "Do you like to pick fights?" and hit Trung on the head. Trung, being hit, used both hands to cover his head for protection.

Seeing his friend being beaten, Ngoc got out of the car, took out a knife, and said, "What's the matter? Why are you beating my friend?" D. then hit him on the head. In pain, Ngoc stabbed wildly at the group of young men.

Ngoc's stabbing caused the deaths of Mr. D. and Mr. A. due to punctured hearts and lungs.

After stabbing the victim, Ngoc took a bus to Hanoi. On December 17, 2019, reflecting on his actions, Ngoc took a bus to the police station to surrender.

At the first-instance trial, the panel of judges sentenced Nguyen Xuan Ngoc to life imprisonment for the crime.KillingThe court ordered the defendant to compensate the family of the victim Le Van A. nearly 150 million VND, the family of Cao Thai D. 146 million VND, and Cao Van Ch. over 45 million VND.

Following the initial trial, the victim's family filed an appeal seeking a harsher sentence for the defendant and demanding additional compensation for emotional distress and alimony. At the appellate trial, the defendant presented documents proving partial compensation to the victim's family. The appellate court accepted the defendant's appeal, but also stated that the victims were partly at fault in the incident.

After reviewing the entire case, the panel of judges decided to uphold the original verdict against defendant Nguyen Xuan Ngoc and ordered him to pay the remaining amount owed as per the first-instance judgment.