Death penalty for murderer of lover's husband

At the trial, Nguyen Thanh Duc admitted that because he had feelings for Huong, during the night he slept at Huong's house, Duc pulled out a knife and stabbed Vu Dy Hanh to death.

Defendants Duc and Huong in the dock - Photo: D. Huy

Lam Dong Provincial People's Court has reopened the first-instance trial of the murder, burial and concealment case that shocked public opinion in Lam Dong province, committed by defendant Nguyen Thanh Duc (born in 1988, residing in An Binh village, Loc An commune, Bao Lam district).

In the first trial opened on May 24, defendant Duc suddenly changed his testimony, forcing the jury to adjourn the trial and decide to return the case file to the prosecutor's office for further investigation.

According to the indictment announced by the representative of the People's Procuracy of Lam Dong province at the trial, on December 14, 2016, Nguyen Thanh Duc brought a chicken to the coffee garden guardhouse of Mr. Vu Dy Hanh (born in 1988, in Loc Duc commune, Bao Lam district) to play.

On the evening of December 15, Duc and Mr. Hanh went to a friend's house near Mr. Hanh's house to drink until about 10pm, then returned to Mr. Hanh's house to sleep.

At midnight, seeing Duc sleeping in a hammock, cold, Mr. Hanh called Duc up to the wooden bed to sleep with him and his wife.

Before that, Duc and Mr. Hanh's wife (Tran Thi Tuyet Huong) had feelings for each other.

Therefore, at around 2:00 a.m. on December 16, while Mr. Hanh was sleeping, Duc took a Thai knife from the trunk of the car and stabbed Mr. Hanh once in the left chest.

Mr. Hanh jumped up and said: "Are you dreaming, Duc?" and then collapsed on the floor. Huong discovered and screamed but Duc covered her mouth and calmed her down.

After committing the crime, Duc wrapped Hanh's body in a blanket, took it out to the garden alone, dug a temporary burial hole, and then returned to the scene to dispose of the evidence. Afraid of being discovered, on the evening of December 16, Duc dug up Hanh's body and transported it to An Binh village, Loc An commune, Bao Lam district, and buried it in a coffee garden.

Immediately after committing the crime, Duc discussed with Huong to conceal the fact that Mr. Hanh had died by using his cell phone to send messages to Huong's phone saying that Mr. Hanh had broken up with Huong to return to Ho Chi Minh City to live with his lover.

Huong told Mr. Hanh's family this information and everyone did not believe it, so on December 22, Mr. Hanh's family reported to Bao Lam District Police about Mr. Hanh's mysterious disappearance.

The police started investigating. When invited to work, Duc and Huong confessed the truth. On the afternoon of December 16, 2017, Duc was taken to the scene where Hanh's body was buried.

During the interrogation in court, both defendants admitted that the content of the indictment was correct. Defendant Duc stated that the reason he changed his testimony at the trial on May 24 was because he was upset with what defendant Huong said and said that to get a lighter sentence.

Defendant Huong stated that the reason for not reporting the crime was because of panic and later because of shame in front of family and friends. The representative of Mr. Hanh’s family did not request the defendants to compensate for Mr. Hanh’s funeral expenses or mental damage.

Considering the criminal acts of each defendant, the jury sentenced Nguyen Thanh Duc to death for murder and Tran Thi Tuyet Huong to 3 years in prison for concealing a crime.

According to tuoitre