Death penalty for Chinese man who killed Vietnamese wife

When his wife refused to return to China to live with him, Han JinKun killed her with dozens of stabs. Han JinKun's sins left him with no way to return.

The High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City has just tried defendant Han JinKun (born 1976, Chinese nationality) for murder.

Defendant in court

According to the indictment, Ms. Kim Yen (born in 1977) is the fourth child in a poor family in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City. Due to difficult family circumstances, Ms. Yen had to drop out of school at a young age to work for hire to help her family. After working as a factory worker, Ms. Yen had a daughter, and in order to raise her, Ms. Yen had to send her to her grandparents to work for hire.

In 2014, through a broker, Yen agreed to go to China to marry Han JunKin for 25 million VND. Not long after the wedding, Yen gave birth to a son with Chinese nationality. Life was so difficult that a few months after giving birth, Yen took her son back to her mother's house to live, and Han JinKun followed her. After that, the two rented a room in Binh Hung commune, Binh Chanh district to live.

On the afternoon of December 11, 2015, Han JinKun bought 10 cans of beer and hot pot to go to the motel to eat with his wife, his parents-in-law and Yen's stepchild. At around 7 p.m., his wife's parents and stepchild left. Han JinKun suggested that Yen return to China to live, but Yen refused. Angry, Han JinKun ran to the kitchen, got a small knife and stabbed Yen until she collapsed.

After committing the crime, Han JinKun threw the knife in the rented room and took his son to a neighbor's house and fled.

For his actions, defendant Han JunKin was sentenced to death by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City for murder. After the first instance verdict, defendant Han JunKin and the victim's family appealed for a reduced sentence.

At the appeal hearing, Han JinKun admitted to the crime but said he did not do it on purpose, but was drunk and could not control his actions, leading to the murder of his wife. Han JinKun earnestly hoped that the panel of judges would accept his appeal and give him a way out so that he could return home to raise his children and take care of his parents.

Han JinKun's parents-in-law, representing the victim in court, also asked the panel of judges to reduce Han JinKun's sentence. According to them, their daughter is dead, and even if Han JinKun is sentenced to death, their daughter cannot be brought back to life. Their grandchild has lost her mother, and if her father is sentenced to death, she will lose both her father and mother, which will be a great loss.

After the deliberation, the panel of judges believed that Han JinKun's actions showed hooliganism and disregard for the lives of others, so the most severe sentence was necessary. Although Han JinKun was sincere, repentant, had a low level of education, had partially compensated for the damage, and the victim's family asked the court to reduce his sentence... but considering that Han JinKun no longer had the ability to reform and become a good person, his criminal behavior was brutal, and he was determined to commit the crime to the end, it could not be forgiven. Therefore, the panel of judges decided to sentence Han JinKun to the highest sentence, the death penalty.

According to Dan Tri