The day of payback for the man who killed someone and then disappeared

Brothers commit murder together

Nguyen Hai Manh Hung(born in 1998) is the eldest child in a family of 4 siblings in Vinh City. After Hung are 3 younger siblings, including Nguyen Hai Manh Cuong (born in 2002). Born and raised in the city, Hung dropped out of school early. After 7th grade, Hung dropped out of school and went out into society early. Hung soon had a girlfriend and a child, but the two have not registered their marriage.

In early 2018, Hung’s name became known to many people when he and his younger brother committed a murder. Although the victim was lucky to escape the “grim reaper”, Hung’s act of driving a car into a crowd caused a stir in public opinion.

Returning to the case that year, late at night on January 19, 2018, Hung drove his younger brother Cuong and two other young men to dinner. On the way, Cuong discovered Pham Phuc Manh and a group of friends sitting in a sidewalk cafe in Vinh City. Cuong recalled that nearly 2 months ago, Manh had hit him in the head with a wooden stick and had to get several stitches, so this young man had the idea of ​​revenge.

When Hung drove about 15 meters away from Manh's seat, Cuong told his brother to drive and hit his opponent. Seeing Hung hesitate, Cuong urged him to "hit it, hit it" and then leaned forward from the back seat of the car, intending to grab the steering wheel. Hung pushed Cuong's hand away, stepped on the gas, and drove straight toward Manh's group.

The defendant expressed remorse for his crime. Photo: Tran Vu

The strong crash caused a friend of Manh, Duong Xuan Hieu, to fall and hit his head on the road. The act of hitting Hieu with a car caused the victim to suffer a traumatic brain injury, with a health damage of 63% at the time of assessment.

After committing the crime, Cuong was arrested by the police while Hung fled and was wanted. At the first instance trial of defendant Nguyen Hai Manh Cuong held at the end of that year, the defendant confessed and admitted his crime. Cuong expressed remorse for dragging his brother into trouble with the law. Considering that in this case the defendant committed the crime with many mitigating circumstances such as at the time of the crime Cuong was just over 15 years old, confessed honestly, repented, and influenced the family to compensate the victim for mental damage, the court sentenced defendant Nguyen Hai Manh Cuong to 3 years in prison for murder.

The Fugitive's Regret

As for Nguyen Hai Manh Hung, after committing the crime, this subject fled. In March 2018, Hung was ordered by the police.wantedfor murder. After more than 4 years on the run, in March 2022, Hung turned himself in to the police, admitting his crime.

Standing in court, no one would have thought that the young man with white skin and a sympathetic face would commit murder. The defendant answered the questions of the jury in a low voice. Hung sincerely admitted all his crimes.

Defendant Hung stated that he had no conflict with the victim, but because he “listened to his younger brother,” he drove his car straight into his brother’s “rivals.” The defendant stated that after driving into the group of opponents, he saw someone injured, so he proactively called his mother to ask her to take the victim to the hospital for treatment. At the trial, the defendant also stated that before driving into the crowd, Manh’s group threw rocks at his car, which made him angry. After the incident, the defendant influenced the victim’s family to compensate 150 million VND.

Standing with his head bowed before the witness stand, Hung expressed remorse for his crime. Hung said that after committing the crime, he fled because he was afraid. However, after being encouraged by his family many times, the defendant surrendered to receive leniency from the law. According to the defendant Hung, during his time in hiding, he lived with his girlfriend for a while. Therefore, they had a child together.

At the trial that day, the defendant's fiancee also brought her young child to meet her father. When Hung saw the child, he raised his hand to greet her, but the child continued to play and babble to his mother without paying any attention to his father. Hung tried to talk to the child but the child did not look at him, causing him to show his sadness on his face.

Defendant Hung at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

As for Hung’s younger brother, relatives said that Cuong had completed his sentence. When his brother was reunited with his family, Hung “followed” him into prison. During the time he was allowed to meet his family when the court deliberated, Hung appeared quite calm and promised to reform well.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant Hung’s actions constituted the crime of “Murder”. The fact that the victim did not die was beyond the defendant’s subjective will. In this case, the defendant’s surrender, honest confession, repentance, and his influence on the victim’s family to voluntarily remedy the consequences for the victim were mitigating circumstances. Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced defendant Nguyen Hai Manh Hung to 7 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of “Murder”.

After 4 years on the run, Hung dared to face the law and surrendered, receiving a prison sentence. His only regret was that if he had not been on the run, he would have almost finished serving his sentence by now...