The guy slit his cousin's throat because of a debt dispute over lottery and betting money.
(Baonghean.vn) - Due to a dispute over a debt from gambling, Ho Dang Ke used a knife to cut his cousin's throat. He also used a knife to cut another woman's throat, causing 15% bodily injury.
On the morning of December 31, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance criminal trial of Ho Dang Ke (born 1973), residing in Quynh Bang commune, Quynh Luu district (temporarily residing in Hanoi) for the crime of "Murder".
Ho Dang Ke and Ho Dang H. (born 1969) are cousins. According to Ke's statement, since April 2018, H. has enticed Ke to participate in gambling for money by recording lottery numbers. During the gambling process, Ke recorded lottery numbers through H. and often lost, leading to debt.
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| Defendant Ho Dang Ke in court. Photo: Tran Vu |
In early May 2019, Mr. H. repeatedly called Ke to urge him to pay his debt for lottery tickets. On the evening of May 11, Ke took a bus from Hanoi to his hometown with the purpose of meeting Mr. H. to calculate the debt and ask for a delay in paying the debt.
At around 4am on May 12, Ke went to meet Mr. H. and both sides determined that Ke still owed more than 200 million VND. Ke asked to postpone paying the debt but was slapped 3 times in the face by Mr. H. After that, Mr. H. asked Ke to borrow money and pay him 100 million VND that same day. Ke agreed on the condition that he would call Ms. Nguyen Thi H. (who lived with Mr. H.) to have a three-way conversation because he thought that the money for betting on lottery tickets was a joint debt between Mr. H. and Ms. H.
However, at 8:30 a.m. the same day, H. changed his mind and asked Ke to borrow 200 million VND to pay off the debt. Although Ke said no, "because where can I get that much money from my hometown?", H. still forced him to.
After that, H. took Ke on a motorbike to his maternal grandparents' house in Quynh Lien commune (Quynh Luu district) to borrow money. On the way, he realized he had forgotten his phone, so Ke turned his motorbike back to H's house. When he got home, Ke went to get his phone and saw a box cutter on the wooden bed, so Ke took it and put it in his pocket.
When he got out, Mr. H. continued to ask Ke to call the person who wanted to borrow money, but Ke refused. An argument broke out between the two. Mr. H. grabbed Ke's shirt and pulled him up onto the motorbike. When Ke was sitting on the saddle, H. used his elbow to hit him in the eye. Frustrated, Ke took a knife and slashed Mr. H.'s neck, causing the victim to fall to the ground. After that, Ke used a tarp and a corn stalk to cover the victim's body and packed up his belongings and left.
On the way, thinking that Mr. H. changed his mind about forcing him to borrow from 100 million VND to 200 million VND because Ms. H. forced him, Ke went to this woman's house.
Here, the two sides were discussing the debt and then argued. Ke took out a knife and tried to cut Ms. H's throat, but the victim resisted and called for help from the neighbors. Hearing the screams, the neighbors came over and discovered the incident and beat Ke unconscious.
At the trial, the defendant admitted all his crimes and apologized to the victim’s family. The victim’s representative also asked for a lighter sentence for the defendant and did not request civil compensation because the agreement had been reached. Considering the entire case, the court sentenced Ho Dang Ke to 20 years in prison for “Murder”.