Preventing village boys from fighting at a grilled corn restaurant, a young man was stabbed to death

On the morning of September 10, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Van Giang (born 1996), residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district, for the crime of "Murder".

According to the investigation agency's documents, at around 8:00 p.m. on November 25, 2018, a group of young men including Truong Cong Hoa (born in 1993) and Truong Phuc Hau (born in 1999) sat eating grilled corn at a sidewalk restaurant on Highway 7A in Dien Ky Commune. At around 8:30 p.m. the same day, Nguyen Van Giang drove his motorbike alone down to Cau Bung intersection. When passing by the grilled corn restaurant, Hoa called Giang to join him in eating corn.

When Giang just stopped by the grilled corn shop, Hau came and hugged Giang's neck to tease him. At this time, Giang held a corn ear and pointed at Hau's face and said: "Get out of the way, I'll stab you until you go blind". Hau heard that and said "we're all brothers in the village, what's the matter that you're so crazy about?". Giang took a plastic chair and hit Hau on the head. Seeing that, Hoa went and pushed Giang out onto the street, then Giang took out a switchblade from his pocket.

Defendant Nguyen Van Giang. Photo: Tran Vu

At this time, at the table next to Mr. Ngo Sy Ph. (born in 1992), residing in Dien Ky commune, and his friends were eating corn. Mr. Ph. came and said to Giang: "This is someone else's restaurant and you want to cause trouble?". Giang pointed a knife at Mr. Ph.'s face and said "it's none of your business".

At this time, two friends who were with Mr. Ph. went behind Giang to stop him. Giang pushed his hand away, causing one person to fall onto the street. Mr. Ph. used his hand to hit Giang in the head and used his knee to push Giang in the stomach. Giang bent down to block him, holding a knife in his right hand and stabbed Mr. Ph. in the chest.

After being stopped by a few friends, Giang continued to swing the knife and stabbed Mr. Ph. again in the back. A person ran up and took the knife from Giang's hand. At this time, Mr. Ph. held his chest and told Mr. Trong, "I've been stabbed" and collapsed on the street.

The victim was taken to the hospital but died at 10:00 p.m. on November 25, 2018. The forensic examination concluded that Mr. Ph. died of respiratory failure and acute circulatory failure due to a penetrating wound to the left lung and aortic arch.

After committing the crime, Nguyen Van Giang fled and was arrested in the early morning of November 26, 2018. He was later prosecuted for “Murder”.

At the trial this morning, 4/10 people summoned by the court as witnesses were present. However, the lack of 6 witnesses in the case forced the court to pause for consideration.

After consultation, the court determined that because this was the first time this case was brought to trial, in order for the trial to be objective and in accordance with the law, the court decided to adjourn the trial.

At the next hearing, the court will summon witnesses. Anyone who is absent without a valid reason will be escorted by the court.