The man murdered his elderly neighbor while being invited to a 'guest meal'.
(Baonghean.vn) - While visiting his neighbor, Thang learned that the 74-year-old woman had money on her, so he hatched a plan to murder her and steal the money. After finishing the meal offered by the host, Thang went to the kitchen and attacked the woman, causing her death.
On October 27th, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case against Phan Van Thang (30 years old), residing in Thanh Long commune, Thanh Chuong district, for the crime of "murder". The victim in the case was Ms. Le Thi L. (born in 1947), a neighbor and mother of Thang's friend.
According to the case file, on the morning of April 17, 2021, Thang went to Mrs. L.'s house to visit. While they were talking, Mrs. L. inadvertently let Thang know that she had just received money from her family.
At noon that day, Thang was invited by the host to stay for lunch. Mrs. L. brought the food up to the guest room for Thang to eat, while she ate in the kitchen.
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| Defendant Phan Van Thang received a life sentence. Photo: Tran Vu |
While eating, Thang conceived the idea of killing Mrs. L. to steal her money, so he went down to the kitchen. At that moment, Mrs. L. was sitting with her back to Thang. As Mrs. L. stood up, Thang forcefully pushed her shoulder, causing her to hit her head against the wall. After being struck, Mrs. L. cried for help, but Thang used both hands to violently throw her to the floor, rendering her unconscious. Afterward, Thang searched Mrs. L.'s pockets for money but found none.
At the same time, the daughter-in-law who lived nearby heard the shouting and ran over. Knowing someone had arrived, Thang quickly went to the living room and continued eating his meal as if nothing had happened.
Seeing Mrs. L. lying unconscious in the kitchen, her nephew asked what happened, and Thang said she had fallen. Afterward, Thang pretended nothing had happened and, along with others, helped Mrs. L. onto the bed and massaged her with oil. Around 11:30 AM that same day, relatives discovered Mrs. L. dead, with blood flowing from her head and both ears.
While Mrs. L.'s family asked Thang to buy some supplies, the young man borrowed an additional 500,000 VND and went to buy drugs for personal use. At 9:30 PM the same day, Thang surrendered to the police, confessing to all his crimes.
Investigators determined that the cause of death of Mrs. L. was multiple trauma-induced cerebral hemorrhage.
At the trial, the defendant Thang admitted to the crime. After the incident, the defendant's family paid 20 million VND in compensation to the victim's representative.
The court determined that the defendant's act of murder was brutal; the fact that the defendant committed the crime against a person aged 70 or older was an aggravating circumstance. In this case, the defendant had mitigating circumstances such as surrendering, showing remorse, and making a sincere confession.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced Phan Văn Thắng to prison.life imprisonmentRegarding the charge of murder, the defendant was ordered to pay compensation of over 131 million VND to the victim's representative.