Sentencing of 'boss' in Vinh City who shot his rival in the stomach, causing chaos at night

On August 29, 2019, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought defendant Hoang Khac Hieu (born in 1991); residing in Block 5, Quang Trung Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An and his accomplices to trial for their involvement in a fight and shooting at a restaurant on Lenin Avenue.

Defendant Hieu was brought to trial on charges of "Murder" and "Illegal possession and use of military weapons".

According to the indictment: At about 8:00 p.m. on October 20, 2018, Hoang Khac Hieu, commonly known as "Bom Hieu", along with Pham Duc Nghia (born in 1997, residing in Van Tien block, Hung Dung ward, Vinh city) and Le Trong Duc (born in 1996, residing in hamlet 1, Dien Loi commune, Dien Chau) and a number of other people went to the "Cua Do" restaurant at 21 Le Nin street (in hamlet 20, Nghi Phu commune) to eat and drink.

A while later, Nguyen Gia Dinh (born in 1992; residing in Quang Tien block, Vinh Tan ward) went with Le Ngoc Anh (born in 1992; residing in Trung Hoa block, Le Mao ward) and some other people driving a red car to the above restaurant to party.

Defendant Hoang Khac Hieu and his accomplices at the trial. Photo: An Quynh.

When Nguyen Gia Dinh got off first and walked into the restaurant, he saw Hoang Khac Hieu. Dinh called out "Bom Hieu". Hearing the call, Hieu turned around and was immediately punched repeatedly in the face by Dinh because he knew Hieu had had a fight with him before.

Seeing Hieu suddenly being beaten, Hieu's group of friends sitting there eating grabbed cups, glass bottles and used chairs to chase and beat Dinh. Hoang Khac Hieu, out of anger, stood up, pulled out a pistol that Hieu had picked up more than a week before while exercising on Dinh Cong Trang Street (Vinh City) and shot Dinh once in the stomach.

At this time, Le Ngoc Anh and some people sitting in the car rushed to chase and beat Hieu and his group of friends ran in many different directions. When Hieu ran about 100m, to the front of the Handico apartment building nearby, some people chased and blocked him, so Hieu ran back and met Le Ngoc Anh holding a 1m long sword chasing him.

When he saw Ngoc Anh approaching him, Hieu used his gun to shoot one shot that hit Ngoc Anh's left shoulder (causing a wound 0.5cm in diameter, 15cm from the left nipple). Ngoc Anh continued to hold the sword and, along with some other people, held bamboo stakes to chase Hieu. Seeing Hieu stumble, Ngoc Anh rushed to grab the gun and, along with the others, used swords and bamboo stakes to beat Hieu.

Hieu ran into the restroom in the Handico apartment building, called his wife to pick him up, and then fled to Hanoi immediately afterward. Ngoc Anh and Dinh then went to Military Hospital 4 for emergency treatment. Afterwards, the subjects brought the pistol to Vinh City Police to hand over, with brown substance (suspected blood) stuck on the gun body, and inside the gun were 4 shell casings and 1 unfired bullet in the chamber.

The gun used by Bom Hieu in the case. File photo.

On October 25, 2018, after being encouraged by his family, Hoang Khac Hieu went to the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security (C02) to surrender, confessing to using a gun to cause the above-mentioned fight.

At today’s trial, all defendants confessed their actions. In particular, defendant Hoang Khac Hieu’s actions were extremely serious, causing injuries to others and disturbing public order. As for the victims Nguyen Gia Dinh and Le Ngoc Anh, although they were victims in the case, they also had some responsibility for causing the above case, so they were tried for the crime of “Disturbing public order”.

Based on aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel decided to sentence defendant Hoang Khac Hieu to 6 years in prison for "murder" and 12 months in prison for "illegally storing and using military weapons". Combining the two sentences above, Hoang Khac Hieu is sentenced to 7 years in prison from the date of detention.

Regarding defendant Nguyen Gia Dinh, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison but given a suspended sentence of 30 months probation and 30 months in prison for Le Ngoc Anh for the crime of “Disturbing public order”. Defendants Pham Duc Nghia and Le Trong Duc were both sentenced to 24 months in prison for the crime of “Disturbing public order”.