Wife used weapon to beat deaf-mute husband to death

On the morning of May 26, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of Hoang Thi Ngan (born in 1974, residing in Nam Linh commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An) for the crime of "Murder". The victim in the case was Mr. Dinh Huu L. (born in 1972), the defendant's husband.

Defendant Hoang Thi Ngan was prosecuted for "Murder". Photo: An Quynh

"Mr. L. was born deaf and mute, but he was gentle and worked hard to take care of his family," said a neighbor of the victim. According to this person, during their time together, the couple occasionally had conflicts with each other. When Mr. L. discovered that his wife was having an affair, the family conflict became even more serious.

According to the indictment, in the early morning of November 13, 2021, while the couple was sleeping, Mr. L. woke up and broke things. Ngan saw this and asked, but Mr. L. signaled that he had a headache. Ngan gave her husband sedatives and then went to bed.

About 30 minutes later, Ngan heard a “thud, thud” sound outside the porch. When Ngan went outside, she saw Mr. L. banging his head on the porch. When he saw Ngan come out, Mr. L. chased after her. During the scuffle, Ngan used a mop to hit Mr. L. on the head.

Then, Ngan took an iron bar from the kitchen door and used it as a door latch and ran out into the yard. Seeing Mr. L. fall, Ngan used the door latch to hit him on the head; Mr. L. stood up and grabbed a water bottle and chased after his wife.

Ngan entered the house and continued to use the door latch to hit Mr. L on the head, causing him to become dizzy and have to lie down on the hammock. Seeing her husband lying on the hammock, Ngan continued to use the door latch to hit her husband many times on the head. Due to being dizzy, Mr. L fell to the floor and only had time to pick up a nearby V-shaped iron bar and throw it at his wife.

Ngan ran into the kitchen and saw a metal bat hitting her husband repeatedly on the head. Then, seeing Mr. L fall to the ground, she went into the bathroom to take off her coat and then came back to see Mr. L still moving. Ngan used the bat to hit him again until Mr. L lost consciousness.

After committing the crime, she dragged her husband to the corner of the yard and changed into new clothes, washed a towel and wiped away all the blood stains on his body and the floor.

Ngan packed up all her husband's belongings and clothes and threw them in front of the ditch to get rid of them. Because the house had a camera installed, Hoang Thi Ngan was afraid and went inside to take the iPad and phone and threw them in the field in front of the house.

After cleaning up the “crime scene”, Ngan called her two children and said: “Dad is dead, when mom screams, you and your sister will run to the neighbor’s to call for help”. Having said that, Ngan grabbed the glass bottle and the tire pump and threw them out into the yard and screamed.

Hoang Thi Ngan turned on the light and cried, while her two children ran to a neighbor's house to report the news. Everyone rushed to take Mr. L. to the hospital for emergency treatment, but he was confirmed dead before that.

Through the autopsy, the victim died of a fractured skull and hemorrhage due to multiple brain injuries. At the police station, Hoang Thi Ngan also confessed to all her actions.

At the trial, when asked about the beating process, Hoang Thi Ngan calmly confessed, describing each action, leaving the attendees shocked.

The judge asked Ngan why she committed the crime, she calmly said: "At that time, the defendant was like an animal, beating her husband for no reason."

Hoang Thi Ngan burst into tears when she saw her child. Photo: An Quynh

Hoang Thi Ngan was prosecuted by the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province and brought to court for trial for the crime of "Murder" under point n (of a hooligan nature), clause 1, article 123 of the Penal Code with a penalty of 12-20 years, life imprisonment or death penalty.

After considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel decided to sentence defendant Hoang Thi Ngan to life in prison for “Murder” and ordered Ms. Ngan to compensate the victim’s mother for mental damage as well as provide child support for her two children.