16-year-old killer and cold confession

The tragedy at dusk

The incident happened more than 10 years ago but the poor village of Quynh Chau (Quynh Luu) is still shaken. In the memories of the villagers at that time, people still could not believe that a child like Quang who did not even dare to cut the throat of a chicken could be so cruel to others.

Crime scene in Quynh Tam commune, Quynh Luu district.

On August 10, 2012, four days after the crime occurred, the murderer Phan Xuan Quang (born in 1996), residing in Hamlet 9, Quynh Chau Commune, Quynh Luu District (Nghe An) was finally caught by the law. At the time of arrest, Quang was not yet 16 years old, but the crime he committed shocked many people.

At about 6:45 p.m. on August 6, 2012, in Hamlet 1, Quynh Tam Commune (Quynh Luu), Mr. Pham Van Hong (60 years old) and his son-in-law Phan Duc Tuong (30 years old) were sitting in the house watching TV when they heard a cry for help outside. They immediately ran out and witnessed a young man staggering out of a car with license plate 37A - 024.00, holding his neck, covered in blood, staggering a few steps before collapsing.

Immediately, the victim was called an ambulance by the people and taken to a nearby military hospital for emergency treatment. However, when they arrived, the victim was dead, so the driver had to return the victim and the car to the scene and report to the police.

Upon receiving the news, the leaders of Quynh Luu District Police quickly dispatched officers to the scene. Through verification and initial investigation, it was found that this was a serious murder case, the subject's behavior was extremely brutal, and had been prepared in advance, so the unit's leaders decided to establish a special project.

At the crime scene, the autopsy showed that the victim had a cut in the neck that severed the aorta leading to death.deathIn addition, the victim also had two fingers cut off. This shows that the victim had a struggle with the perpetrator. The murder weapon was identified as a sickle (the type used to cut grass, harvest rice...).

Witnesses said that when the victim called for help, they saw a dark figure running into the forest area, but because it was dark, no one could identify him. Immediately after, the victim was quickly identified as Nguyen Van Lang (born in 1973), residing in Tuan B hamlet, Quynh Chau commune, Quynh Luu district. The victim worked as a mobile phone repairman, with a shop located right on National Highway 48. In addition to repairing mobile phones, Lang also bought a small car to drive passengers to earn extra income.

Taking statements from the people involved, the investigators were told by Ms. Nguyen Thi Mui (Mr. Lang’s sister) that at around 5:00 p.m. the same day, Mr. Lang came to her house to visit and stayed for dinner. Before the two sisters could eat, Mr. Lang received a phone call. After listening, Mr. Lang said that a customer rented a car to Tan Thang commune for 350,000 VND, then quickly left.

Ms. Le Thi Long (Mr. Lang's wife) said that Mr. Lang came home to park his motorbike, drove the car and said he was going to pick up passengers to Tan Thang commune. He also said to wait at home, he would come home to have dinner with the family for fun, but unexpectedly he got into an accident.

The killer is revealed

From the above information, the detectives concluded that the key point of the case could have started with a call to the victim's phone number at 5 p.m. Without much difficulty, the detectives found out that the phone number that called at the above time was 01648632xxx. Through verifying this phone number, the owner was Phan Xuan Quang. Personal verification revealed that Quang had not finished 8th grade before dropping out. Every day, in addition to herding buffalo and cutting grass to help his parents, Quang also hung out with friends and specialized in petty theft.

Portrait of the 16-year-old killer. Photo: Old HSVA

The local authorities have repeatedly imposed administrative penalties on Quang for these bad habits. Continuing to verify social relationships, we also obtained information: A week before the incident, Quang went to Mr. Lang's shop to sell a phone. During the exchange and sale, Quang and Mr. Lang had a heated argument. From here, the detectives concluded that the possibility of committing a murder could have originated from here.

However, when secretly monitoring Quang's daily activities, gestures and actions, the detectives saw that the suspect still appeared normal, showing no signs of anxiety or unusual behavior. Every day, Quang still went to cut grass, herd buffalo and hang out with friends. How to expose the suspect was a difficult problem.

Out of nowhere, the rumor that Quang was the murderer spread everywhere and on August 9, 2012, Quang “disappeared”. This detail further strengthened the documents and evidence to confirm that Quang was the one who murdered Mr. Lang.

On August 10, 2012, the detectives determined that Quang was hiding in the forest, so they organized a force to surround and capture him, and on the other hand, persuaded his family to contact and call on Quang to surrender. However, after talking to his family, Quang said he would not surrender, and at the same time, asked his mother to bring him money, clothes and food so he could eat well and then escape.

At noon of the same day, Ms. Vu Thi Hien (Quang's mother) called to meet Quang at Quynh Chau B Primary School to give him clothes and money, and when Quang appeared, he was arrested.

Quang confessed to the police that the reason for the crime was that he had previously sold the stolen phone to Mr. Lang and the victim only paid him 20,000 VND. Angry, Quang intended to hit Mr. Lang, but because he was smaller, Quang had to leave and was determined to "take revenge".

On the afternoon of August 6, 2012, Quang took a sickle to cut rice and called Lang to take him to Tan Thang commune. When they reached a deserted area in Quynh Tam commune, Quang immediately raised the sickle and hooked it around the victim's neck. During the struggle, Lang had two fingers severed and then held on to the sickle tightly. Quang kicked the car door open and ran away, leaving the victim behind. Quang climbed over the fence of a nearby house, took off his shirt, went down to the fish pond to hide, then climbed up to the ditch on the roof and hid until 4 a.m. before returning.

What surprised the detectives even more was that the next day, Quang continued to herd cows as usual as if nothing had happened. Even when the forensics arrived at the scene, Phan Xuan Quang was still laughing and joking with his friends.

From theft to sick hobbies

Although he has a young face and a small, skinny body, Phan Xuan Quang has a rather outstanding record of debauchery, theft, and unusual hobbies.

Quang was in 8th grade, but because he loved to play and was lazy to study, his parents forced him to stay home and herd buffalo. On the outside, Quang seemed gentle and hard-working. Even as many neighbors commented, he never got into a fight and was afraid even of cutting a chicken's throat. However, Quang's petty thefts were endless.

Grandparents, parents, relatives, and neighbors have all been victims of Quang at least once. One by one, mobile phones, money, even chickens and ducks, any careless family would be “snatch” by Quang. Quang would sell the stolen property and use the money to treat his friends to food and entertainment.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien - Quang's mother said, once his friend did not have money to pay for school, Quang immediately stole property and sold it to get money for his friend. Knowing his bad habit, every time Quang stole, his parents went to the victim's house to ask for sympathy, compensate them, then came back to sweetly advise their son, but Quang still could not give up his bad habit. Once Quang stole, his father hung him from the beam, whipped him with a rattan cane until he bled, but after that, he "returned to his old ways".

Being beaten and scolded a lot, Quang became numb. Whenever he was scolded even a little harshly, he would leave home to wander around, steal for a living, and only come back when his parents went looking for him. “Early last July, he also left home for a few days and didn’t come back. I went looking for him and saw him riding someone’s motorbike. After much questioning, I found out that he had just stolen two motorbikes from people in Hamlet 8 and Ba Ngoc Hamlet. We returned the motorbikes to the people, then my husband and I used a chain to chain our son’s legs and took him to the commune People’s Committee to ask for him to go to a reform school. However, the documents were not completed yet, and before we could leave, he caused trouble again,” said Ms. Vu Thi Hien.

In addition to his addiction to petty theft, Quang is also the terror of women and girls in the village. Every night, if he finds someone bathing, he will sneak up and steal their underwear and take them home. “My family is miserable with Quang’s sick behavior, but advice and beatings are ineffective. I suspect my son has some kind of mental illness, and I have tried to take him to the doctor several times, but I keep putting him off because I think he is in puberty and his psychology is not stable yet, so…” - Mr. Phan Xuan Minh left the sentence unfinished when mentioning his son.

Since learning that their son was the culprit in the case of driver Nguyen Van Lang having his throat slit, the whole family of Minh and Hien were stunned. When asked about Quang, Minh shook his head: "I consider him dead!" Meanwhile, Hien lay flat on the bed and sat against the wall, her eyes red when someone accidentally touched the pain she was suffering. Although they knew their son was "untreatable", Minh and Hien did not expect that Quang was the culprit who murdered Lang.

The victim's family did not request a reduction in sentence for the defendant. Photo: HSVA

Ms. Hien cried and shared: “Even that morning, when I met him at Quynh Chau Primary School, he still insisted that he did not kill Mr. Lang. When the police officer read the arrest warrant for him for murder, I could not stand still and collapsed. Having a son who committed murder is so humiliating, I dare not raise my face to anyone.” Although she was very angry with her son, with the heart of a mother and the sacred love of motherhood, before going to prison, she prepared some candy, milk, and clothes to visit her son the next day.

Mr. Luu Hai Viet - former Chief of Quynh Chau Commune Police at that time said: "At the time Phan Xuan Quang stole 2 motorbikes in the area, we had made a record to send Quang to a reformatory. I don't think the subject was reckless enough to commit the crime because besides stealing and watching women bathe, Quang did not fight, gamble, or do drugs. However, when brought to the commune headquarters, the subject was extremely stubborn, calm as if nothing had happened. It is even more unbelievable that just because Mr. Lang criticized his phone... I think Phan Xuan Quang has mental problems...".

The trial of Phan Van Quang took place in January 2013. At the trial, the defendant confessed to all his crimes and showed remorse. Considering that the defendant's actions were hooligan, aggressive, and cruel, but at the time of the crime, Phan Van Quang was not yet 16 years old, confessed honestly, and actively compensated part of the damage to the victim's family. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Phan Van Quang to 11 years in prison, 1 year lower than the sentence proposed by the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province. In addition, Quang must be responsible for providing for the upbringing of Mr. Lang's two young children, 500,000 VND/person per month.

Not only Quang in particular, but also minors (under 18 years old) in general are people who have not fully developed in terms of personality and morality. This is the age of rapid physical development, but psychological and physiological instability, even rebellion, lack of emotional control skills leading to impulsive behavior, prone to crime. Quang's case is also a warning bell for families and the whole society about moral education for students, especially individual students. It is necessary to have synchronous correction and education from families, schools, and localities. Thereby, helping to reduce and prevent crimes in this age group./.