11 years in prison for murderer after wedding brawl

(Baonghean.vn)- On September 29-30, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of the murder case against Cao Van Phong (born in 1985), residing in Dien Thanh commune, Dien Chau. The victim in the case was Hoang Van Tu, residing in Dien Trung commune. Also involved in this case is Dau Hai Quan (born in 1986), residing in Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau, who was prosecuted for the crime of intentionally causing injury.

On the morning of April 22, 2016, after attending a wedding at Mr. Nguyen Cong Huu's house (Dien Trung commune), many young people went to the soccer field in front of Mr. Huu's house to play, when a fight broke out between Mr. Nguyen Huu Dang and Mr. Pham Dinh Vo. Seeing this, Hoang Van Tu and his brother Hoang Van Tuan, who lived in the same neighborhood as Mr. Vo, ran from the wedding home to get a knife and a stick, but their father, Mr. Hoang Van De, snatched the stick and knife. Tu and his brothers ran toward the wedding, Mr. De ran after them to stop them.

Defendant Phong (white shirt) and Quan at the trial

Seeing the fight, Nguyen Van Thanh (resident of Dien Ngoc commune) ran out to stop it but was surrounded by many people. Tu took a stick and hit Thanh once on the head. Cao Van Phong (who came to help at the wedding) ran out to stop it but was chased and beaten by Tu with a stick and ran away.

While sitting in the car, seeing Mr. Thanh being beaten, Dau Hai Quan (Thanh's friend) took out a knife and ran out, stabbing Mr. De once in the buttocks. Mr. De ran away but was slashed many times on both arms by Quan.

Hit in the head, Thanh ran back to the taxi to get his previously hidden knife and turned back. At this time, Phong was being chased by Tu. Seeing Tu running back, holding a knife, he snatched it, turned back and stabbed Tu in the back.

Tu was taken to the emergency room but died later. Thanh, Phong and Quan ran home. Phong and Quan then went to the police station to confess their crimes.

The forensic examination concluded that the victim Hoang Van Tu died from a penetrating wound to his left lung, leading to blood loss and respiratory failure. Mr. De's wound caused 4% health damage.

At the trial, the defendants confessed and admitted to the crimes as stated in the indictment. “In the past few days, the defendant has been living in a state of anxiety, regret, and torment for the sins he has committed. The defendant would like to apologize to Mr. Tu’s family, hoping that the family will forgive the mistakes and crimes he has committed. The defendant knows that his actions are dangerous and affect society, but he hopes that the panel of judges will consider his difficult circumstances, with his wife unemployed and his three young children still in school age, to show him leniency and reduce his sentence so that he can soon return to his family and become a good citizen,” Cao Van Phong said in court.

Based on the investigation results, the results of the interrogation and public debate at the trial, the panel sentenced Cao Van Phong to 11 years in prison for murder and Dau Hai Quan to 9 months in prison for intentional injury. Regarding civil compensation, the parties involved had previously agreed, so the court did not consider it.

Nhu Binh