The late tears of a man on trial for the second time for murder

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought defendant Hooc Van Man (born in 1976), residing in Muong Tip commune, Ky Son district, to trial for the crime of Murder. This is not the first time the defendant has appeared in court. Previously, Man was also tried for the crime of Murder.

After serving his sentence, Man returned to his hometown and married Hoa Thi H (born in 1981). After 14 years of living together, the couple has 7 children. The youngest is currently under 2 years old.

Defendant Hoc Van Man covered his face and cried in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Living in a remote area, the whole family could only rely on farming and government subsidies. Despite their poor circumstances, Man often indulged in alcohol, making life even more difficult. During a drinking session with Hooc Pho V (born in 1964), Man took the life of his cousin.

It was August 13, 2018, Mr. Hooc Pho V called Man to come to his step-son's house to drink alcohol. After drinking 3 bottles of alcohol with his friends, Mr. V got drunk and overturned the dinner tray. Seeing that, Man stood up to leave and was punched and kicked in the arm and left rib by Mr. V.

The next afternoon, Man happened to see Mr. V drunk so he took him to his son's house. At that time, Mrs. Moong Thi Kham (Mr. V's wife who was not registered to marry) gave Man 10,000 VND to buy alcohol to drink. During the drinking process, Mr. V apologized to Man and was accepted. After that, this group continued to buy more alcohol to drink.

When he was a little drunk, Mr. V chased everyone away and said: "You are still here, do you want to play with my wife?". Man replied: "Don't say that, your wife is my sister." Immediately after that, Mr. V punched Man in the head and kicked him in the left side. Angry, Man went to the door, took a wooden stick that was leaning against the wall and hit Mr. V in the head, causing the victim to fall onto the bed, bleeding from his nose and ears. After beating him, Man went home to sleep.

The victim was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment, but died on August 25, 2018. Forensic examination results concluded that Mr. Hooc Van V died from a skull fracture.

Small in stature, Man stood timidly behind the witness stand, admitting to all his crimes. The court asked, “What do you think about your actions?”. Man replied, “I am very remorseful.” “Why did you, who was once tried for murder, reoffend?”. In response to the court’s question, Man stated that he was angry because he had been beaten by Mr. V twice before, and while drunk, he could not control his actions.

The Procuracy believes that the origin of the incident is the defendant's hooliganism. "The defendant himself once committed murder, but reoffended. It is the hooliganism that is the underlying cause that led the defendant to commit such a serious crime," the representative of the Procuracy stated.

Attending the trial as the legal representative of the victim, Mr. V's son requested a trial in accordance with the law and civil compensation. "My father is gone, no amount of money can compensate, I only ask the court to consider allowing us to enjoy our rights in accordance with the law," the victim's son stated.

In his final words, Man apologized to the victim’s family and his wife and children. The defendant’s speech was constantly interrupted by sobs. Man raised his handcuffed hands to cover his face and cried… Only then did the wife sitting behind dare to move to the top row of seats to be near her husband. She kept hugging the empty seats and sobbing. A few times Man turned around but wiped away his tears and looked up. It was not until the time for the verdict was near that Man told his wife to “try to raise our children.”

Defendant Hooc Van Man's wife burst into tears when she "reunited" with her husband in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Her husband was arrested when their youngest child was just over 1 year old. Now the child is almost 2 years old, but due to her circumstances, she did not bring her young child to the court. The poor woman only brought along the older children and a bag of belongings, including an old blanket, to give to her husband when the season began to change.

For the crime of murder, Hoc Van Man was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The defendant was forced to compensate the victim’s family more than 143 million VND, and to provide monthly child support of 500,000 VND for the victim’s youngest daughter until she turns 18.

The court ended just after noon. Under the dry sun, the mother of seven children ran after the truck to deliver the items she had painstakingly prepared to her husband.

Tran Vu