The pain of a wife with heart disease whose husband is convicted of murder
(Baonghean.vn) - Despite suffering from heart disease for many years, Ms. Nguyen Thi L. did not dare to go to the hospital for fear of... wasting money. She often fainted, but she still had to take care of the farm work and work as a maid to support her family. While working as a maid, she was shocked to receive the terrible news that her husband had taken a knife and killed someone.
One day at the end of 2019, Ms. Nguyen Thi L. (born in 1974) went with some relatives to the People's Court of Nghe An province to attend the trial in which her husband was the defendant. With a thin, small figure, she looked much older than her 45 years.
In the large courtroom, she sat quietly, not daring to look at the victim’s relatives. Her family and the victim’s family were neighbors who often visited each other. However, just because of a moment of impulsiveness by her husband – defendant Le Dinh Truong (born 1969), the two families had to endure their own pain.
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| Ms. Nguyen Thi L. often fainted at her husband's trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
Recalling the past, Ms. L. sighed: In the evening of August 18, 2019, I was working as a maid for a family in the village when I received a phone call from a relative informing me that my husband had stabbed someone to death. Having suffered from heart disease for a long time, I fainted without realizing it when I heard the bad news. When I woke up, I ran home to take care of everything and burn incense for the victim. This woman admitted that her husband was an alcoholic, but she did not expect that the stimulant was the source of the heartbreaking incident.
In front of the witness stand, Le Dinh Truong reported the incident. The defendant stated that in the evening of that day, he brought a knife to Mr. Tran Huu Loi's house to sharpen it to cut a pipe. Because Mr. Hoi's family was having a party, the defendant was invited by the homeowner to join in the celebration with a glass of wine. During the meal, the defendant and Mr. Nguyen Tu B. (born 1961) recalled the story of being beaten by Mr. B. when he was 17 years old.
There was an argument between the two sides, so the homeowner advised the defendant to go home first. However, when he got home, he realized he had forgotten the knife, so the defendant returned to Mr. Hoi's house. When he arrived, the defendant took the knife and tucked it into his pants and continued to sit in the yard to drink water. At this time, the defendant continued to ask why Mr. B. brought up the old story. After a few words, Mr. B. raised his hand to punch the defendant, but the defendant pulled out the knife and stabbed Mr. B. in the left rib. The victim died shortly thereafter. After committing the crime, the defendant fled to the forest and then turned himself in to the police.
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| Defendant Le Dinh Truong at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
In the presence of the victim's family, defendant Truong turned down to apologize, expressed remorse and promised to actively influence the victim's family to compensate them.
Speaking in court, the defendant’s wife trembled as she said that before the trial, she had borrowed 20 million VND to compensate the victim’s family. Then, the woman turned to apologize to the victim’s wife and children. Her apologies were interrupted by feelings of fear and anxiety.
During the deliberation, the defendant's wife suddenly fainted, so several relatives who were with her had to help her out into the hallway. Everyone expressed sympathy for the unfortunate woman's plight. A neighbor said that the defendant's family had been poor for many years. Recently, the government built a charity house for Ms. L. and her husband. Therefore, this family was upgraded from poor to near-poor.
Every day, Ms. L. works hard to raise her three children and save money to treat her heart disease. Although this woman has suffered from a serious illness for a long time, she has to live with it because she has no money to go to the hospital. However, when all the difficulties are piling up, she continues to have to worry about other burdens.
Because she fainted, she could not meet her husband to comfort him during the court's deliberation. When the court announced the verdict, this woman struggled to go inside to hear the verdict against her husband. For his hooliganism, the defendant Le Dinh Truong was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The court also ordered the defendant to compensate the victim's family nearly 200 million VND.
Hearing the sentence against her husband, Ms. L. shook her head and said: With such a large amount of money, I have no choice but to sell my land and house to pay off the debt.
The trial ended quietly as the victim’s wife and children sadly left. On the other side of the courtroom, defendant Truong’s wife was also helped out of the courtroom by her relatives.
