Man who murdered aunt and stole gold sentenced to life imprisonment.

On December 31st, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance trial against Nguyen Van Thi (born in 1979 - residing in Ngoc Son commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province) for the crimes of murder and robbery.

According to the indictment, due to drug addiction and financial difficulties, Thi pawned his motorbike. Desperate and unable to redeem it, Thi targeted Ms. Nguyen Thi Huy (born in 1956) – his relative – to steal her property.

Defendant Thi in court

Having devised a plan, on the evening of July 2, 2013, Thi took a 50cm long bamboo stick to Mrs. Huy's house. Upon arriving at the gate, Thi hid the stick outside and went inside to sit and relax. At 11 PM that same day, while Mrs. Huy was asleep, Thi went out, retrieved the bamboo stick, and struck her twice on the head, killing her instantly.

Thi quickly snatched Mrs. Huy's gold earrings before leaving the scene. On the way home, he threw the bamboo stick into the river to dispose of the evidence.

On the morning of July 3rd, Thi took a bus to Dung town (Thanh Chuong district) to sell a pair of gold earrings for 3,200,000 VND. Knowing she couldn't escape punishment, two days later, Thi surrendered to the authorities, confessing to her crime.

The court sentenced the defendant Thi to a total of life imprisonment.

Duc Chung