Man appears in court with stitches all over his head

On December 19, 2018, the People's Court of Nghe An province decided to hold a first-instance trial of defendant Nguyen Ba Chin (born in 1975), residing in Hamlet 1A, Nghi Kieu Commune, Nghi Loc District, Nghe An Province, for the crime of "Murder".

Defendant Nguyen Ba Chin had scars all over his head and a dented part of his skull during the first instance trial. Photo: Quynh An.

According to the indictment, at about 11:00 a.m. on February 4, 2018, Nguyen Ba Chin went to help butcher a cow for a wedding in the village. After finishing lunch, Chin called his friend Tran Van Loi (born in 1980). At that time, Loi did not say anything, but Nguyen Ba Chin heard someone's voice saying: "Call me your father, you will listen to whoever says it." Ba Chin was angry, thinking that someone was cursing him. He immediately took a knife with a wooden handle 40 cm long, a blade 28 cm long, and a sharp tip to find Tran Van Loi to ask. When he arrived, he saw Loi and Nguyen Ba Quy (born in 1983) playing billiards. Chin asked Loi who was talking into the phone. Loi replied that Quy was talking but he was just "joking for fun".

Chin was angry and did not consider it a joke, so Quy challenged him, "What do you want now?" Chin pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed Quy once in the chest. With the billiard cue in his hand, Quy raised it and hit Nguyen Ba Chin's head 2-3 times, causing Chin to fall backwards to the ground.

People took Nguyen Ba Chin and Nguyen Ba Quy to the hospital, but Quy was confirmed dead due to a punctured lung wound. Nguyen Ba Chin was lucky to survive, but his health was 61% damaged. Currently, a part of the skull fragment is being cultured, but the financial conditions are not yet sufficient for a transplant surgery.

On September 29, when Nguyen Ba Chin's health had stabilized and he was discharged from the hospital, the Nghe An Provincial Police Department prosecuted and temporarily detained Chin to serve the investigation.

Chin said there was no conflict between him and Mr. Quy. The reason for the incident was that Chin could not control his actions when Mr. Quy said harsh words and challenged the defendant. At the time of the incident, Nguyen Ba Chin had drunk a little alcohol.

After the incident, although Chin had to be treated, his family tried to run around and borrow money to compensate the victim 30 million VND. At the trial, the defendant Chin's wife continued to compensate Quy's wife and mother 10 million VND.

Defendant Nguyen Ba Chin apologized to the victim's family when he was given his last words. Photo: Quynh An.

Considering the entire case, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Ba Chin to 17 years in prison for "Murder"; ordered to compensate the victim's family more than 151 million VND, support for Mr. Quy's two young children each 1 million VND/month until they turn 18 years old, and support for Mr. Quy's mother 500,000 VND/month.