After 28 years, an old woman and her two sons were exonerated of murdering her husband.

For 28 years, Mrs. Nga sent petitions everywhere to appeal her innocence about being accused along with her two sons of being involved in her husband's death.

On October 24, at the headquarters of the People's Committee of Tuan Giao district, the People's Court of Dien Bien province will hold an apology ceremony for Ms. Dang Thi Nga (79 years old) and her two children, Mr. Trinh Cong Hien (54 years old) and Trinh Duy Duong (47 years old), accused of murder and concealing criminals.

Mrs. Nga and her three children were found not guilty of hiding and killing Mr. Trinh Huy Tung (husband, father) in the mysterious case at the foot of Pha Din Pass 28 years ago.

Three days ago, the representative of Dien Bien provincial police, Lieutenant Colonel Vu Xuan Duong, delivered and handed over the decision to suspend the investigation of the suspect to Mrs. Nga and her two children. Only Mrs. Nga and her second son were present at the delivery. After being released on bail, Mr. Hieu fell ill due to boredom and died in 2004.

Immediately after receiving the above decision, Ms. Nga and her son continued to receive invitations to attend a public apology. Her family was defended by lawyer Vu Thi Nga for free in the next "journey" to demand justice.

Ms. Nga (middle, right) and her son at the meeting to receive the decision to suspend the defendant.

According to the case file, on the afternoon of September 18, 1989, Mrs. Nga discovered the body of her husband - Mr. Trinh Huy Tung under the well and reported it to the authorities. Based on the examination of the scene and the body, the police of Tuan Giao district (then part of Lai Chau province) prosecuted the defendant Dang Thi Nga for murder.

The case file was then transferred to Lai Chau Provincial Police for handling according to their authority. In October 1989, after an expanded investigation, the police decided to prosecute Mr. Hien and Duong for murder and transferred the case to Lai Chau Provincial People's Procuracy for prosecution.

In January 1990, the People's Procuracy of Lai Chau province issued an indictment, prosecuting Hien and Duong for murder, and Ms. Nga was charged with concealing a crime. In April of the same year, the People's Court of Lai Chau province held a first-instance trial and sentenced defendant Trinh Cong Hien to 18 years in prison, Trinh Huy Duong to 12 years in prison for murder, and Ms. Nga to 3 years in prison with a suspended sentence.

Later, both Mr. Hien and Mr. Duong filed petitions for a reduction in their sentences. However, both men changed their statements, claiming innocence and not guilty of parricide.

On December 18, 1990, the Supreme People's Court of Appeal overturned the first instance judgment on the grounds of some shortcomings in the investigation. During the additional investigation, Mr. Hien and his younger brother were released on bail after 28 months of detention.

Since then, the case has been suspended for nearly 30 years without any conclusion, although Ms. Nga’s family has repeatedly filed petitions for redress. Most recently, in 2016, Ms. Nga filed a petition with the inter-sectoral prosecution agencies of Dien Bien province.

During the verification, the authorities looked for documents and met with people who had previously participated in solving the case. However, due to the long time since the incident occurred in Tuan Giao district, Lai Chau province, and the majority of people who directly participated in solving the case had died, it was difficult to evaluate and conclude...

Last September, during a working session with the leaders of Dien Bien province, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court Nguyen Hoa Binh requested that the interdisciplinary prosecution agency promptly clarify the case at the foot of Pha Din Pass.

On October 11, the Dien Bien Provincial Inter-Agency Litigation directly reported and asked for instructions from the Central Inter-Agency Litigation on handling the case and handling Ms. Nga's petition; at the same time, directed the Dien Bien Provincial Litigation Agency to suspend the investigation of the case, suspend the investigation of the defendants Dang Thi Nga, Trinh Cong Hien, Trinh Huy Duong, publicly apologize and compensate according to the law.

According to VNE