The crime of a guy who attacked his neighbor's old lady in the middle of the night just for 10 thousand dong

The old lady's unusual death

At dawn on April 21, 2024, the son of Ms. Lo Thi H. (born in 1939), residing in Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district, came to the house and loudly called out to his mother but no one answered. Pushing the door open, he was stunned to see his mother lying motionless on the floor, with many wounds on her body.

The unusual death of Mrs. H. not only surprised her children and grandchildren but also the villagers. For several years, the victim had lived alone in a house of love, without any conflicts with anyone. Although her children did not live with her, they still visited her every day.

The news spread, and many curious people came to see. Among them was a young man named Lo Van Duong (born in 1995), residing in Chieu Luu commune. However, not long after, the news that Lo Van Duong was arrested by the authorities for his involvement in the old woman's death surprised many people.

At the investigation agency, this subject confessed to beating the old woman in the middle of the night. Accordingly, on the evening of April 20, 2024, Duong's family organized a dinner and drank alcohol with some neighbors. Because Duong was HIV-infected and lived in an unhygienic manner, the family did not let him eat with the guests but gave him food separately. That night, Duong drank alcohol with a friend.

Out of wine, Duong and his friend walked along the street. After a while, his friend went home and Duong went to Mrs. H's house to knock on the door and ask for 10,000 VND to buy wine.

Seeing that Duong was already tipsy, Mrs. H. said, "Go home, I'll give it to you tomorrow, it's late now." As soon as she finished speaking, Lo Van Duong took the iron bar he was carrying and hit her many times in the head and face, causing the victim to fall to the ground unconscious.

After that, Duong went home and slept as usual. The next morning, when he heard that Mrs. H. had died, Duong went there as if nothing had happened. But then, his crime was exposed.

During the detention, the investigation agency found that Lo Van Duong showed signs of mental abnormalities, so they requested a psychiatric assessment. The conclusion was that Duong suffered from a mental disorder due to the use of many types of drugs.

For the above crime, Lo Van Duong was prosecuted and brought to trial for murder.

Regarding the reason for the crime, the defendant stated that he was angry because he asked the victim for money to buy alcohol but was refused. The defendant stated that he had used drugs many times in the past, was heavily addicted, and was infected with HIV. He also drank alcohol regularly and asked people for money to buy alcohol.

The pain of two families

Sitting quietly listening to his son's testimony, the defendant's father held back a sigh many times. According to the family, Duong is the eldest of three children. Duong dropped out of school before finishing second grade. After that, due to difficult circumstances, Duong stayed at home and went to the forest to work on the fields with his parents.

Growing up, Duong followed bad friends in the village and got into drugs without realizing it. Also because of using drugs, this young man was infected with HIV. From then on, this young man's life went downhill with no way out. Also because of using too many drugs, Duong suffered from mental disorders.

“Because the child was sick, the already poor family became even more destitute. In addition, in 2016, he had a traffic accident and had to be treated in the hospital for a long time, and since then his health has become even worse,” the defendant’s father told the court.

The fact that their son is HIV-infected makes Duong’s parents sad. However, they always try to encourage each other to work on the farm and raise livestock to take care of their son. Since their son caused the shocking incident, they have tried to help the victim’s family arrange the funeral for the deceased. “Because the family has no assets, we can only bring a few offerings to pray for the deceased,” said the defendant’s father.

This man presented his difficult family circumstances, the defendant himself suffered from many illnesses, and had limited legal awareness so that the court could consider reducing his sentence. Regarding the compensation for mental damage to the victim's family, he presented that his family currently had no valuable assets, and could only hope that after the defendant was released from prison, he would find an opportunity to compensate.

On the opposite side, the victim's children came to court with sad faces. They confided that their mother had worked hard all her life to take care of her 9 children. Her husband died early, so all the burden fell on her shoulders. A few years ago, thanks to the program to mobilize and support the construction of houses for the poor and those in difficulty, she had a solid house to live in.

Sadly, the joy did not last long as she was murdered by a young man that night for only 10 thousand dong. In the face of the great loss, the victim’s legal representative requested that the defendant compensate the family for their mental damage. Regarding criminal matters, they requested the panel of judges to try the defendant according to the law.

Considering that in this case the defendant committed a crime with aggravating circumstances, which was a crime committed against a person 70 years of age or older, the panel sentenced Lo Van Duong to 20 years in prison for murder. Regarding the civil part, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim’s family more than 250 million VND.

Although the defendant had to pay the price for murder, the pain of losing a loved one still lingers for the victim's relatives.