The regret of the nephew who "accidentally" took his uncle's life
After a night of drinking on the full moon night, Nguyen Van Chinh got a little drunk and had an argument with his wife. Seeing the commotion, his uncle came to stop them but Chinh stabbed him to death with a knife...
Murder on the full moon night
The first instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Van Chinh (born 1984, residing in Vo Liet commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An) for the crime of "Murder" took place in mid-July 2024 with quite a lot of people attending. They were mainly brothers and relatives, although there were many people, the atmosphere was still quiet and orderly. The defendant in this case is the patriarch and the main victim is Mr. Nguyen Van H. (born 1959, the defendant's uncle).
The content of the case shows that on February 24, in the yard of Nguyen Van Chinh's house, a ceremony was held to worship the full moon of the first lunar month. After the drinking session, everyone was a bit drunk, except Nguyen Van Chinh, who could no longer walk steadily. When the party was almost over, some people left, Chinh's wife was cleaning up, taking the dishes to the well to wash. At this time, inside the yard, Chinh and some people, including Mr. Nguyen Van H., were still sitting and drinking. At 0:15 on February 25, Chinh went to the well area to use the restroom. Because he drank too much, Chinh walked unsteadily and slipped and fell. Seeing this, Chinh's wife, who was washing dishes nearby, scolded her husband. After that, an argument broke out between the couple.
Hearing the loud noise in the well area, one of them quickly ran out to stop it and pulled Chinh in but to no avail. However, instead of listening, Chinh grabbed the sharp knife he had just washed and left in the basket of dishes and chopsticks and threatened to slash this person, but this person was so scared that he ran away and missed.
It seemed like the situation would calm down, but when he heard the noise, Mr. Nguyen Van H. also ran out to stop it. Chinh waved his hand and told his uncle to go in and continue drinking, and let his brothers handle everything. As a father and uncle, Mr. H. told Chinh, "If you don't listen to me, don't blame me, I'll beat you up." As soon as he finished speaking, Mr. H. punched Chinh in the head as if to remind him. A struggle broke out between the two sides. Because Chinh was holding a knife in his hand, he stabbed his uncle in the stomach. The victim took a few steps back and collapsed to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, some people present took Mr. H. to the hospital for emergency treatment. However, due to severe injuries, Mr. H. died. The cause of death was determined to be acute circulatory failure due to a penetrating abdominal wound that severed the rectal vein and perforated the small intestine.
After stabbing his uncle, Chinh was taken home to rest by everyone. On the morning of February 25, after sobering up, Nguyen Van Chinh went to the hospital to visit the victim. When he learned that the victim was in critical condition, Chinh went to the Vo Liet Commune Police Station to surrender and hand over the knife used in the crime.
Late regret
Standing before the witness stand, defendant Nguyen Van Chinh admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. While answering the presiding judge's questions, the defendant bowed his head to show remorse. The defendant admitted that because he drank too much alcohol on the day of the incident, he could not control himself and this led to serious consequences. In addition, the defendant did not remember all of his actions in detail because, according to the explanation, "the defendant was drunk so he did not remember clearly".
According to the defendant Chinh, there had never been any conflict between the uncle and nephew, everything happened spontaneously. In addition, the sharp knife was hastily grabbed from the basket of dishes and chopsticks in the well area where his wife was cleaning, without any prior preparation.
Because the defendant and the victim had a close relationship, the victim's family had not made any material demands since the incident. Even when Nguyen Van Chinh pressured his wife to bring 20 million VND to the victim's house to talk, the victim's family refused to accept it. According to the representative of the prosecutor's office, only after being persuaded by the investigators did the victim H.'s family accept the money.
At the trial, the representative of the victim's family also did not request a specific amount of compensation but only requested a trial according to the provisions of the law and compensation depending on the level of responsibility of the defendant's family.
The legal representative of the victim has filed a petition for consideration of reducing the defendant's responsibility. At the same time, at the trial, the victim's family also asked the court to consider reducing the sentence so that the defendant can return to his family soon.
When allowed to apologize, Nguyen Van Chinh turned to the victim’s family, where the victim’s wife and children were sitting. “Up until now, my uncle and I have never had any conflicts. I never intended to harm you, but because I drank too much that day, this happened. I apologize to my mother, my siblings and the whole family, and I hope everyone will forgive me for my mistakes,” the defendant Chinh said with his hands clasped. Although the apology was late, the heartfelt words of the nephew somewhat eased the pain of the victim’s family.
At the trial, defendant Chinh asked the court to consider the circumstances and reduce his sentence so that he could soon return to his family and raise his children with his wife. Chinh also promised to compensate the amount of 100 million VND according to the agreement between the two parties.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions were particularly dangerous to society, directly infringing on human life, and therefore required strict punishment. However, it is also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendant. The defendant has a good character, and after the incident, he proactively turned himself in, confessed honestly, and at the same time influenced his family to remedy the consequences. Although the victim's family representative did not ask for anything more, in terms of conscience and responsibility, the defendant influenced his family to remedy the consequences. In this case, the victim was also partly at fault.
Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced defendant Nguyen Van Chinh to 16 years in prison for murder. In civil matters, the defendant was ordered to compensate the victim’s family for the remaining amount.
The trial ended, Nguyen Van Chinh had to pay the price for his actions. However, this was also an expensive lesson for the defendant when he drank too much alcohol and could not control his actions. When he felt sorry and regretted, it was too late...
