The debt cut the uncle-niece relationship in half.

Conflict from debt collection

It has been 4 years since the incident, but the people of Trung Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district still remember clearly the "debt collection" case that happened in the area. Just because of a "small" conflict, one person left forever, another had to endure regret in prison.

At around 7:00 p.m. on April 27, 2019, Yen Thanh District Police received a report of a murder in Trung Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh). The victim was identified as Mr. Nguyen Tho T. (born in 1970), residing in Nam Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh). That same evening, the perpetrator came to the authorities to confess his crime, and was Vu Van Minh (born in 1987), residing in Trung Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh). When the perpetrator confessed the reason for the crime, many witnesses were surprised. It is known that the victim married Minh's aunt, so Minh often called himself his nephew and called the victim uncle.

The cause of the murder stemmed from the fact that around March 2019, Minh lent Mr. T. 70 million VND and promised to pay him back in 8 days. After the deadline, Mr. T. had only paid Minh 35 million VND. Minh asked for the remaining amount many times but Mr. T. said he did not have it.

After that, Mr. T. went to the South to do business. On April 27, 2019, knowing that Mr. T. had returned to his hometown, Minh took the initiative to call but Mr. T. did not answer the phone. At 4:00 p.m. the same day, Minh went to Mr. T.'s daughter's shop and said: "I heard your father was coming back but you didn't have the mouth to call me."Ione hour. Then, Minh stood in front of the shop cursing and threatening to beat his uncle.

At 6:30 p.m. the same day, Mr. T. called Minh and asked: "Where are you?". Minh replied that he was at home, and Mr. T. said: "You are there, I will come and beat you to death." About 5 minutes later, Mr. T. rode his motorbike to the house Minh was building in Hamlet 6, Trung Thanh Commune.

There, the two sides argued, Minh took a bamboo stick and chased and beat the person he called uncle. When he saw Mr. T. collapse, Minh left. The victim was taken to Nghe An General Hospital for emergency treatment but died on the way. The forensic examination concluded that Mr. Nguyen Tho T. died of acute circulatory failure due to multiple injuries that caused a fractured skull, cerebral hemorrhage, broken ribs and a ruptured spleen.

Immediately after the incident, Vu Van Minh proactively went to the police station to confess his crime. However, due to anger over Mr. T.’s unjust death, the victim’s family carried the coffin to Minh’s new house under construction to demand justice.

Late regret

Vu Van Minh's trial was held at the end of September 2019. The court was packed with spectators, most of whom were relatives and neighbors of the victim and the defendant. The victim's family members brought portraits and wore mourning scarves and were present from early morning. When the police officers escorted defendant Vu Van Minh into the courtroom, people whispered, discussed, cursed, blamed, and some even tried to rush in and beat the defendant. A neighbor present at the court said: "It's heartbreaking that you took your uncle's life."

At the trial, defendant Vu Van Minh initially denied the crime. The representative of the provincial People's Procuracy asked about the process of chasing and beating Mr. T., Minh confessed that he did not know where he hit him, in what position, or with which hand he hit him. Next, the representative of the People's Procuracy said that Minh's confession that Mr. T. had driven his motorbike into him and chased and beat him with a brick was baseless. The representative of the People's Procuracy stated that Minh had not given an honest statement, and that Minh's actions were of a hooligan and aggressive nature. Accordingly, the representative of the People's Procuracy proposed a sentence of 16 to 17 years in prison for defendant Vu Van Minh and compensation of 201 million VND for the victim's family.

However, the lawyer defending the victim's rights said that Vu Van Minh's actions were especially dangerous to society. During the fight, which lasted only about 10 seconds, Minh beat and stabbed Mr. T. many times, causing multiple injuries leading to his death. The lawyer also requested that many details in the case be clarified, such as the phone calls between Minh and Mr. T., and how Minh used a stick to beat Mr. T.

The 4-hour trial took place in a tense debate between the representative of Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy and the lawyer protecting the rights of the victim and the defendant.

Faced with the evidence, defendant Vu Van Minh bowed his head and pleaded guilty. “The defendant did not intentionallykilling”, Minh said. Hearing that, the victim’s family reacted strongly. When given the last word, Minh apologized to his uncle’s family.

During the sentencing, defendant Vu Van Minh turned his head down to the auditorium and burst into tears when he saw his relatives. Seeing his wife, the defendant called out to her and told her to “continue building the house, waiting for the day I get out of prison”.

It is known that in 2012, Vu Van Minh was sentenced by Vinh City People's Court to 27 months in prison for "Robbery" and completed his prison sentence on August 30, 2013, and his criminal record was cleared. On October 6, 2013, after being released from prison for about 2 months, Minh continued to be administratively fined 2 million VND by Yen Thanh District Police for "Dog theft".

Due to the nature of the case, the panel of judges decided to extend the deliberation for several more days at the trial. On the afternoon of October 4, 2019, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced defendant Vu Van Minh to life in prison for "Murder" and ordered the defendant to compensate the victim's family nearly 201 million VND.

An Quynh