Life in prison for man who used scissors to stab another man's heart

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of September 16, the Provincial People's Court opened the first instance criminal trial of the murder case against Nguyen Van Thin (born 1977), residing in Hung Dung ward, Vinh city.

According to the indictment, around January 2016, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan (residing in Hung Hoa commune, Vinh city) gave 500,000 VND to Nguyen Van Thin to buy heroin for use. Thin did not buy it and accidentally spent the above amount. Many times he asked for the money back but Thin did not return it, Mr. Tuan cursed and threatened to beat Thin.

On the morning of February 24, Thin had breakfast and drank wine at his friend's house, then borrowed a bicycle to go to the market. On the way to the market, Thin picked up a pair of scissors and put them in the bicycle basket. When he got near the market, Mr. Tuan came out of the market on his motorbike. Seeing Thin, he shouted "Thin, stop" and then stopped his motorbike and ran towards Thin.

Nguyen Van Thin

When Tuan ran closer, Thin took a pair of scissors from the bike basket and stabbed Tuan in the left chest. Thin took the scissors out, put them in the basket, cycled home, called a friend to inform him of the incident and asked him to come and check on Tuan.

After being stabbed, Mr. Tuan tried to run back to the company and was taken to the emergency room by his colleagues, but due to the severity of his injuries, he died that same afternoon. Forensic examination results showed that the victim died of shock and blood loss due to a punctured heart wound.

Knowing that Tuan was dead, Thin fled. On March 7, Nguyen Van Thin turned himself in to Vinh City Police, confessing his crime.

At the trial, Nguyen Van Thin claimed that Tuan stabbed him first with scissors. Thin grabbed Tuan's hand and pushed him away, grabbed the scissors, and stabbed Tuan back. Thin did not admit to the crime as stated in the indictment, but claimed that during the investigation, the investigator "suggested" him to testify like that.

However, the representative of the Provincial People's Procuracy based on the investigation results, the results of the argument on the traces on the victim's body of the Provincial Police's Criminal Technique Department and the results of the scene experiment... affirmed that the defendant's statement was baseless and proposed a life sentence for the defendant for murder.

In 1997, Nguyen Van Thin was sentenced by the People's Committee of Nghe An province to 24 months of re-education. In 2001, Thin was sentenced by the People's Court of Thua Thien Hue province to 30 months in prison for theft. In 2005, the People's Court of Quang Nam province sentenced him to 4 years in prison for intentional injury. In 2009, Thin was sentenced by the People's Court of Vinh city to 18 months in prison for theft.

Based on the investigation results and collected evidence, through the questioning and debate process at the trial, the panel of judges determined that the Provincial People's Procuracy's prosecution of Nguyen Van Thin under point n, clause 1, article 93 of the Penal Code (of hooligan nature) was the right person and the right crime.

Considering the entire case as well as the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Van Thin to life in prison.

The court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim more than 135 million VND for funeral expenses and mental damage.

In addition, the defendant must be responsible for providing 1 million VND per month for Mr. Tuan's two children until they are adults, and 1 million VND per month for Mr. Tuan's biological father.

Nhu Binh