Increased sentence for man who hacked sister-in-law to death, injuring nephew

Nguyen Van Duong (born in 1981, residing in Nghia Hung commune, Nghia Dan district) has an older brother named Nguyen Van Hop (born in 1971). During their time together, Mr. Hop and his wife, Ms. Vo Thi X. (born in 1976), often had irreconcilable disagreements.

In September 2018, Mr. Hop and Ms. X. separated, the couple's shared house was divided in half, each person using a room separated by a wooden cabinet. The common assets were also divided in half, except for the motorbike Mr. Hop often used as a means of transport, which was managed by Ms. X. Therefore, every time Mr. Hop went to work, he had to borrow his younger brother's motorbike.

On December 27, 2018, Duong went to work by bicycle. Tired and angry because Ms. X. used his brother's motorbike, this young man immediately had the idea of ​​taking a knife to Ms. X.'s house to resolve the conflict.

Defendant Nguyen Van Duong. Photo: Tran Vu

At around 7:30 p.m. on December 27, after dinner, Duong went down to the kitchen to get a knife and walked to Ms. X's house. When he got there, he saw the door closed and the lights were still on. Duong called out loudly but no one responded.

Because the door to Mr. Hop's room was still open, Duong went inside and jumped over the wooden cabinet separating the two rooms. At that time, Ms. X. and her daughter, Nguyen Thi N. (born in 2003), were sitting playing on their phones. Duong approached and slashed Ms. X.'s head several times with a knife, causing the victim to collapse. Seeing her mother being slashed, N. ran over and used both her hands to cover her mother's head, but was also slashed by Duong.

Duong left, told his relatives everything, then went to the police station to confess. Due to the severity of her injuries, Ms. Vo Thi X. died, and N. was taken to the hospital for treatment with a 41% disability.

Nguyen Van Duong was prosecuted for “Murder” and “Intentional Infliction of Injury”. At the first instance criminal trial held by the People’s Court of Nghe An province in June 2019, defendant Duong was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “Murder” and 7 years in prison for “Intentional Infliction of Injury”. The total sentence that defendant Duong must serve is 27 years in prison.

The legal representative of the victim then filed an appeal against the entire first instance judgment and requested an increase in the criminal penalty and compensation.

The High People's Court in Hanoi opened a criminal appeal trial for Nguyen Van Duong. At the trial, the victim's representative maintained the appeal. The victim's two children requested an increase in the sentence, mental damage and alimony. "Since our mother passed away, our lives have been miserable. We request that the court judge the right person and the right crime," one child said in court.

In court, Duong said that due to anger and a little alcohol in his system, he could not control his actions. The defendant asked for a low sentence so that he could have the opportunity to take care of his elderly mother.

The Court of Appeal determined that the defendant’s murder was a hooligan act, and that he had deliberately committed the crime to the end. Therefore, the court accepted part of the appeal of the victim’s representative, increased the sentence from 20 years to life in prison for “Murder” and upheld the original sentence of 7 years in prison for “Intentional infliction of injury”. The total sentence for the defendant Duong is life in prison. Regarding the civil part, the court upheld the compensation for mental damage and child support for the victim as in the first instance judgment.