Young man murders teacher over same-sex relationship.
After failing to win back his gay lover at school, Dat murdered the young teacher.
On January 25th, the Ho Chi Minh City High Court of Appeal, holding a mobile appellate hearing at the Can Tho City People's Court, rejected the appeal of Cao Tan Dat (born in 1991, residing in Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province), upholding the first-instance judgment and sentencing him to 20 years in prison for "murder".
The defendant, Dat, is the perpetrator who murdered his homosexual lover, Luu Minh D. (born in 1992, residing in Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province). The victim was Mr. D, a teacher at a primary school.
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| Defendant Dat in court |
According to the case file, about four years ago, Dat and D. had a same-sex relationship. However, because their families disapproved, D. proactively ended the relationship with Dat.
However, Dat still wanted to salvage the relationship, so he tried to talk to D. many times, but without success. Around 12 PM on January 10, 2017, Dat went to the school where D. was teaching to talk about his "girlfriend" ending their romantic relationship.
Here, Dat asked D.: "Is there no way to salvage this anymore?" D. replied, "No." Dat continued, "Do you remember what we said on the first day we met?" D. replied, "Yes, if you like it, do it" (Dat had told D. that the day she left him would be the day of their funerals).
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| The school where the murder took place. |
After saying that, D. went back to class to teach. Meanwhile, Dat conceived the idea of killing D., so he hired a motorbike taxi to take him to Cai Tac market (Chau Thanh A district, Hau Giang province) to buy a Thai knife.
At 2 PM that same day, Dat saw D. going from the classroom into the school's restroom, so he ran in to talk to her again, hoping to rekindle their relationship, but he was unsuccessful.
At this point, Dat tried to stab D. with a knife but missed. The teacher ran a few steps before falling into a ditch. Dat then jumped into the water and stabbed his lover multiple times. Hearing the cries for help, D.'s colleagues ran out and discovered that the teacher had been murdered by Dat.
At the same time, Dat also attempted suicide with a knife. Dat and D. were taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. However, due to the severity of his injuries, teacher D. died before reaching the hospital.
In June 2017, the Hau Giang Provincial People's Court sentenced Dat to 20 years in prison for murder and ordered him to pay over 160 million VND in compensation to the victim's family.
However, Dat later appealed. At the appellate trial, the panel of judges determined that the defendant Dat acted out of jealousy, believing that the victim had feelings for someone else, and therefore took the victim's life.
The 20-year sentence handed down by the lower court took into account all mitigating circumstances and resulted in a reduction of the sentence. The defendant appealed but failed to present any new evidence, so the appeal was rejected.
