Stabbed drinking buddy to death because he thought he was being looked down upon
After 3 consecutive drinking parties, Thinh and his friend had a conflict. Thinking that his drinking friend was younger than him but had spoken contemptuously to him, Thinh took a knife and stabbed his friend to death on the spot.
On December 20, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial for defendant Thai Van Thinh (born in 1973), residing in Tan Long commune, Tan Ky district (Nghe An) for murder. The victim in the case was Duong Van L. (born in 1983), residing in the same locality.
The indictment shows that at noon on August 2, 2024, Thai Van Thinh and a group of friends drank alcohol at a bar, including Mr. L. After drinking, the group invited each other to play billiards.
At 5:30 p.m., they invited each other to go to a person's house in the group to continue drinking. At around 10 p.m. the same day, Mr. L. invited everyone to go to the cultural house area of Phuc Minh hamlet to drink beer.
After more than an hour of drinking, a conflict arose between Thinh and Mr. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L.
Seeing that, a friend tried to stop him but L. threatened to beat him so he stopped. After the fight, L. went up to Thinh and kissed him on the cheek, then said, "You should go home and rest."
At this time, Thinh walked home, while Mr. L. returned to the drinking party. Although everyone advised him to go home, Mr. L. continued to sit and drink beer.
When Thinh got home, he saw a sharp knife (the kind used for cutting fruit) on the table, so he took it and returned to the village cultural house. Seeing Thinh return with the knife, everyone stood up and ran away, except for Mr. L. who sat there.
When someone said "get up", Mr. L. replied: "I'll sit still and see what you dare to do". At this time, Thinh took a knife and stabbed Mr. L. once in the thigh.
Seeing that, a friend pulled Mr. L. to run away. But after running about 20 meters, L. pushed his friend's hand away and turned back to pick up a beer can and threw it at Thinh but missed. Thinh took a knife and chased after Mr. L. but couldn't catch up and went home.
At that moment, Mr. L. turned around and used a belt to hit Thinh. Thai Van Thinh turned around and stabbed Mr. L. in the chest, causing the victim to die on the spot. After committing the crime, Thinh went home to tell his relatives, then contacted the police to surrender.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. The defendant stated that he and the victim had never had any conflict. Regarding the incident that day, the defendant said that the victim was younger than him but spoke contemptuously of him.
The defendant expressed remorse for his rash actions which caused serious consequences. At the trial, the defendant apologized to the victim's family.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions constituted murder and sentenced Thai Van Thinh to 17 years in prison. Regarding the civil part, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim’s family more than 500 million VND (minus the 30 million already paid in compensation).