Woman who killed creditor at dawn gets prison sentence increased
(Baonghean.vn) - When going to Mrs. Huong's house to pay her debt at dawn, Hue was thought to be a thief by the creditor, so he covered her with a blanket and beat her. During the struggle, Hue pressed his hands on Mrs. Huong's face and neck, causing the victim to die.
On September 26, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened a high-level criminal appeal trial against Ho Thi Hue (born in 1991), residing in Quynh Thien ward, Hoang Mai town, Nghe An province, for the crime of "Murder". Previously, in the first instance trial, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced defendant Hue to 13 years in prison. The legal representative of the victim filed an appeal requesting an increase in the sentence and consideration of the crime of "Robbery" against defendant Hue.
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| Defendant Ho Thi Hue at the high-level appeal trial. Photo: Nhu Binh |
The case file shows that Hue borrowed a total of 5.6 million VND from Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (born in 1954, living alone in Quynh Thien ward). At around 6:00 a.m. on January 5, 2016, Hue hitched a ride to Ms. Huong’s house to pay 2 million VND in advance. After calling but no one answered, Hue went through 4 doors and entered Ms. Huong’s bedroom.
Mrs. Huong thought it was a thief, so she covered Hue's head with a blanket and beat her. The two wrestled back and forth, Hue sat on Mrs. Huong, pressing down on her face and neck with both hands until she lay motionless. The next morning, her relatives discovered Mrs. Huong dead. Six days later, Ho Thi Hue was arrested.
At the trial, defendant Hue admitted to the murder but insisted that she did not commit robbery. According to the defendant, after seeing Ms. Huong lying motionless, she was so scared that she used a crowbar to pry open the safe to create a fake scene to mislead the authorities' investigation, not to rob the victim's property.
The panel of judges determined that based on the results of the investigation and questioning, there was not enough basis to confirm that Ho Thi Hue had committed the act of robbing the victim. However, the first instance court had not yet fully and comprehensively assessed the criminal acts of defendant Hue to determine an appropriate sentence.
The High People's Court decided to partially accept the appeal of the victim's legal representative, amend the first instance judgment, and sentence Ho Thi Hue to 15 years in prison.
