Death sentence upheld for man who stabbed female homeowner to death
Thinking that Mrs. H. was taking advantage of him to borrow money and had a challenging attitude, Tran Van Nang stabbed this woman to death. Afterwards, Nang took the victim’s property and used her motorbike to escape.
On August 21, at the People's Court of Nghe An province, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened an appeal trial of defendant Tran Van Nang (born 1962), residing in Nhan Hoa commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city, for two crimes of "Killing" and "Robbery". The trial was opened due to the defendant's appeal.
According to the investigation results, on July 14, 2023, because of acquaintance, Tran Van Nang from Hai Phong went to visit Ms. PTH (born 1969), residing in Tan Ky district, Nghe An. At night, Nang slept in the outside room, while the female owner slept in the inside room.
Nang lay thinking about Mrs. H's attitudes and behaviors towards him up to now. He thought that this woman had no feelings for him but was only using him to borrow money, so he had the idea of killing Mrs. H.
At about 4am the next day, Nang took a knife from the kitchen, went into Mrs. H's bedroom, and stabbed the sleeping female homeowner once in the chest. Mrs. H woke up and asked why he did that. Nang replied, "You were cruel to me," and swung the knife and stabbed the victim 14 times.
Seeing Mrs. H. collapse, Nang took the victim's handbag which contained 2 phones and some cash and used the homeowner's motorbike to leave the scene.
That same morning, relatives discovered Ms. H. dead and reported it to the police. 5 days later, Tran Van Nang was arrested by the police.
At the first instance trial, the defendant admitted to committing the crime as charged in the indictment. Considering that the defendant's actions were particularly dangerous, the panel sentenced Tran Van Nang to death for "Murder" and 4 years in prison for "Robbery", with a combined sentence of death.
The defendant then appealed for a reduced sentence. At the appeal hearing, the defendant claimed that the victim had tricked him into borrowing money. When the defendant came to his house to collect the money, the victim used harsh and insulting words, which upset the defendant and led to his uncontrolled behavior.
Regarding the robbery, the defendant stated that he did not intend to rob but was scared so he took the motorbike to leave the scene. The defendant asked the court to reduce his sentence and give him a chance to live and rebuild his life.
The appellate court found that the defendant did not present any new details at this trial compared to the first instance trial. The defendant’s murder was of a hooligan nature. Therefore, the court rejected the defendant’s appeal and upheld the death sentence for defendant Tran Van Nang.
