The pain of two families after a drinking party

Murder after cousins' knife fight

In daily life, 1 or 2 glasses of wine are a catalyst that can bring people closer together, but drinking too much wine can cause relatives and friends to turn their backs on each other, creating enmity and resentment. The case of Lo Xuan Chien (58 years old), residing in Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district, killing his cousin after a drinking session is a sad example of the consequences of alcohol.

Lo Xuan Chien and Mr. Lo Van T. (born in 1961) are cousins. Because they are related and live in the same village, it is normal for them to occasionally sit down and drink with their uncles and brothers. During each drinking session, in addition to stories from “heaven and earth” that are told to make the drinking table more laughter, there are also confidences about work and family. For them, alcohol is the spice that makes life happy and strengthens the brotherhood in the village.

However, the drinking party on the last day of 2023 ended in a heartbreaking murder. Specifically, at noon on December 13, 2023, Lo Xuan Chien organized a meal at his house with a number of people, including Mr. Lo Van T..

While drinking, Mr. T. asked Chien and everyone else to build a wall connecting the kitchen and the main house, but Chien did not agree, leading to an argument between the two sides. The party ended and everyone went home. However, the argument between Chien and his older cousin did not stop.

At around 3pm, Chien told his wife about what had happened and was advised by his wife, “You’re drunk, go to sleep.” Despite his wife’s advice, Chien did not listen and went to the kitchen to get a knife and went to Mr. T’s house to “talk.” At this time, seeing Mr. T also holding a knife and walking towards him, Chien used a stick to knock the knife out of his cousin’s hand.

Immediately afterwards, the two men attacked each other with knives. As a result, Mr. T. was stabbed in the lung, while Chien was injured in the chest and arm. People present rushed the victim to the emergency room and received treatment at the hospital. However, due to the severity of the injury, Mr. T. passed away on February 18, 2024. Authorities determined that the cause of death was respiratory failure, acute circulatory failure due to a punctured lung and broken ribs...

With the above actions, Lo Xuan Chien was prosecuted and brought to trial for murder. At the trial, the defendant expressed remorse for his crime. The defendant admitted that he and the victim were related and often visited each other's houses and drank a few glasses of wine. On the day of the incident, both parties were drunk, leading to a fight. The defendant admitted that because he had been drinking, he could not control his actions, leading to the fatal consequence.

The pain of two families

At the trial, the defendant always showed remorse. The defendant said that during the days in detention, he always felt regretful, miserable, and tormented himself. Many nights, the defendant cried for his own mistakes and cried for his unfortunate cousin. At the age of nearly 60, he had become a grandfather, but he committed a serious crime, and now he is in trouble with the law. The defendant always felt guilty towards the victim and his relatives, but now thinking back, it is too late.

In the presence of the victim’s family, the defendant repeatedly turned his head to apologize. The victim’s family representative stated that after the incident, the defendant’s family had compensated him with 1 buffalo, 1 pig, 2 dogs and 2 bags of rice to hold a funeral according to local customs.

Attending the trial, the victim's representative, although not requesting any further civil compensation, requested the court to try the defendant criminally according to the law. A child of the victim spoke in court, the pain of losing their father still seemed to be painful for the children. A few years earlier, their mother had passed away due to illness. Since their mother's death, the children had only had their father as their spiritual support. But then, the father was killed by Chien after a drinking party, causing the children to be very sad and depressed. Because from now on, the children will forever be orphans of both father and mother.

Sitting a few rows away, the defendant's wife also kept her head down because she had her own pain. The thin woman, with a sad, haggard face, shared that she did not expect her husband to have such an uncontrolled behavior that led to such a heartbreaking consequence. Because her husband and the victim had a close family relationship, and they lived in the same neighborhood. Normally, Chien and the victim often visited each other's houses, then sat down to drink a few glasses of wine. Because they were so close, the fact that her husband, because of alcohol in his system, led to the act of killing his cousin was something she did not expect.

After her husband caused the heartbreaking incident, she went on behalf of her husband to burn incense and apologize to the deceased. At the same time, she also managed to compensate the victim’s family with buffalo, pigs, rice, etc. according to local customs. This woman said that she understood the pain of the victim’s family very well. However, she wanted to receive forgiveness so that the two sides could get along with each other in the future.

That is also the defendant's wish. Lo Xuan Chien repeatedly apologized to the victim's family. At the same time, the defendant hopes to return soon to make up for the pain of the victim's family. Only then will the defendant feel somewhat relieved after causing such a shocking incident.

While the court was deliberation, Chien turned to where the victim's children were sitting and apologized. Then, the defendant turned to his wife who was sitting there and asked her how she was and apologized. Then Chien repeatedly told his wife, "Please wait for me to return." Hearing her husband's words, his wife nodded repeatedly and tried to reassure Chien to try to reform so that she could soon return to reunite with her family and children.

After comprehensively reviewing the case as well as considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced defendant Lo Xuan Chien to 18 years in prison for murder.

Being sentenced to 18 years in prison at the age of nearly 60 made the defendant sad and his eyes red. The case is not only a valuable lesson for the defendant but also for those who use alcohol but cannot control themselves, and then regret it too late.