Life sentence for man who killed his younger brother in Kinh Mon over land dispute

On the morning of September 7, Hai Duong Provincial People's Court held a first-instance trial of Tran Quoc Huan for murder.

According to the indictment, stemming from a land dispute, Huan had the intention of beating Mr. Tran Van Tuan (also known as Tan), born in 1964, living in the same Chau Xa residential area, Huan's younger brother. Knowing that every morning, Mr. Tuan often passed by his house to the foot of Nham Duong mountain to feed the pigs, at around 4:30 a.m. on June 3, 2023, Huan took the family's cleaver and walked back and forth on the road in front of Huan's house to wait for Mr. Tuan to pass by.

When he saw Mr. Tuan coming on an electric bike, Huan approached him, grabbed a knife and slashed Mr. Tuan's left arm, saying, "If you fight over the land, you must die."

Mr. Tuan left his motorbike, jumped into the ditch, climbed up the bank of the rice field and ran away, but Huan chased after him with a knife. Mr. Tuan ran about 300 meters before Huan caught up with him and slashed him many times in the head and neck. When Mr. Tuan fell down, Huan continued to slash him many times with the knife.

Mr. Tuan suffered many injuries to his head, neck, arms, legs, and chest and died on the way to the emergency room. Afterwards, Huan surrendered himself to the Duy Tan Ward Police Station.

At the trial, Huan confessed to all his crimes, expressed remorse and apologized to the victim’s family. The victim’s family did not request that Huan compensate for funeral expenses and mental damage; they requested that the court try Huan in accordance with the law.

Considering the nature and severity of the defendant Huan's crime, the court sentenced Huan to life in prison.

Regarding the land dispute between the parties, according to the investigation of Hai Duong Newspaper reporter, previously defendant Huan's parents divided a 184 m2 plot of land from the family's common land to Mr. Tuan. Mr. Tuan was granted a land use right certificate for the above plot of land. The remaining common land of the family has been used by defendant Huan's family up to now, but the land use right certificate is still in the name of defendant Huan's parents and the victim.

In May 2022, when defendant Huan intended to build a new house on the common land and wanted to encroach on Mr. Tuan's land, a dispute arose. To resolve the dispute and facilitate the use of the land by defendant Huan's family and the family of the two people's younger brother (Mr. Tran Van Toan), Mr. Tuan agreed to combine his 184 m2 land plot with his parents' common land plot to redistribute it to the parties (Mr. Tuan will receive the land plot with a smaller area and the length of the land plot facing the main road is shorter than the 184 m2 land plot with the intention of building a church later).

By October 2022, when the residential area organized a mediation, the parties agreed to the above plan and signed a commitment with the residential area to resolve the matter themselves, not to cause disorder. While the parties were carrying out the procedures to re-divide the land, defendant Huan was still angry, had the intention to kill Mr. Tuan.

After committing the crime, defendant Huan stated that he had previously supported and given money to Mr. Tuan so that Mr. Tuan could transfer the right to use the 184 square meters of land above, but defendant Huan had no evidence or documents to prove this. Mr. Tuan's family denied that Mr. Tuan had transferred the right to use the land to defendant Huan.