Borrowing money from a friend and then paying it back with… a knife.
Having borrowed money from a friend for his business, Nguyen Trong Tam repaid the debt with a knife when asked. Convicted of both murder and illegal use of military weapons, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On August 4th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first-instance trial of defendant Nguyen Trong Tam (33 years old, residing in Que Phong commune, Nghe An province) on charges of murder and illegal use of military weapons.
According to the case file, due to their friendship, Ngo Ro B. (born in 1992, residing in Que Phong commune) had repeatedly lent money to Nguyen Trong Tam for timber trading. After several loans and repayments, Tam still owed his friend 350 million VND.
On the morning of April 26, 2025, Tam invited Mr. B. to go with him to Quy Chau commune to borrow money from an acquaintance to pay off debts. On the way, Tam's wife called and asked him to buy three knives for gardening.
That afternoon, on the way home, Tam told Mr. B: "Today, I can't get the money to pay you, give me some time to pay." Mr. B disagreed, so an argument ensued between them.
At this point, Tam stopped the car, leaned back, and stabbed B once in the abdomen with a knife. Taken by surprise, B struggled to his feet, pinned Tam down in the driver's seat, and held his hands to restrain the knife. During the struggle, the knife blade cut B's neck and caused several other wounds.
Injured, Mr. B. opened the passenger door and escaped, shouting for help. Tam then threw away the knife used in the attack and drove home. On the way home, Tam called several friends, explained the incident, and asked them to come to the scene to take Mr. B. to the hospital.
The victim was later discovered by several people and taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. Authorities concluded that Mr. Ngo Ro B. suffered 56% bodily injury.
At the trial, the defendant claimed he stabbed the victim only to scare him, not with the intention of killing him. Meanwhile, the victim stated that he was resting in the passenger seat when Tam stabbed him in the chest. The victim requested the court to try the defendant according to the law.
The court determined that the wounds inflicted by the defendant on the victim were located in the chest and abdomen, vital areas of the human body, posing a life-threatening risk; without timely medical intervention, death would have been inevitable. Therefore, the defendant committed the crime of murder.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the court sentenced Nguyen Trong Tam to 13 years in prison for murder and 2 years in prison for illegal use of military weapons; the total sentence the defendant must serve is 15 years in prison. Regarding civil matters, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim with over 290 million VND (after deducting the amount already paid).