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According to the forensic conclusion, the injuries on December 22, 2021 were the cause of VA's death, and the previous injuries were only additional factors.
Therefore, there is no basis to determine that defendant Nguyen Kim Trung Thai is an accomplice to murder.
After nearly half a month of deliberation, on May 10, the Ho Chi Minh City High People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Kim Trung Thai.
According to the trial panel, defendant Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang's withdrawal of the appeal was voluntary, without being threatened or coerced, and in accordance with the law.
Regarding the lawyer’s appeal requesting to change the charge of defendant Nguyen Kim Trung Thai from “Torturing others” to “Murder”, the panel of judges based on the conclusion of the forensic autopsy and the explanation of the injuries on Nguyen Thai VA’s body, determined that the new injuries sustained a few hours earlier were the cause of the victim’s death; the old injuries did not cause the victim’s death.
In addition, through reference from the camera before 2:00 p.m. on December 22, 2021, the victim VA was conscious, healthy, and living normally. Therefore, there is sufficient basis to determine that the injury mechanism before December 22, 2021 did not cause the victim's death.
On December 22, 2021, when looking through the camera, seeing Trang beating VA, Thai called Trang to ask her to stop beating her. Therefore, there is no basis to determine that defendant Thai is an accomplice to murder with defendant Trang.
Based on the above reasons, the panel of judges accepted the withdrawal of the appeal and suspended the trial of defendant Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang; did not accept the appeal request of the victim's defense attorney, and upheld the original judgment of first instance against defendant Nguyen Kim Trung Thai.
Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang and Nguyen Kim Trung Thai
Previously, at the first instance trial, defendant Thai was sentenced by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City to 3 years in prison for "Torturing others" and 5 years in prison for "Concealing a criminal", with a total sentence of 8 years in prison.
Thai's lover, Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang, was sentenced to death for "murder" and 3 years in prison for "torturing others", the total sentence being the death penalty.
After the first instance trial, lawyer Nguyen Anh Thom (representative of the victim) argued that the charge of “Torturing others” was disproportionate, so he appealed, requesting that Nguyen Kim Trung Thai’s charge be changed to “Murder”.
Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang also filed an appeal for a reduced sentence. However, a few days before the appeal hearing, Trang withdrew her appeal and accepted the death sentence because she felt pressured, tired, and did not want public opinion to affect the lives of her relatives.
At the trial, Trang affirmed that she was not forced and voluntarily withdrew her appeal because the death sentence was commensurate with the crime.
Showing no remorse for his daughter's death, at the appeal hearing, Thai kept evasive and refused to answer the jury's questions because he said he did not want to remember "that horrifying memory".
During the interrogation, due to the insincere attitude of the defendant Thai, the panel of judges repeatedly showed videos of Trang and Thai torturing Nguyen Thai VA, causing witnesses to be unable to hold back their tears.
Having the last word before the court announced the verdict, this cold father did not once mention his daughter, he only apologized to the family and asked for a reduced sentence.
Due to the complexity of the case, the panel decided to extend the deliberation.
According to the first instance verdict, during the time they lived together in the apartment, Nguyen Kim Trung Thai gave his daughter NTVA (8 years old) to Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang to take care of. Trang then ordered a rattan cane to discipline Thai’s stepchild. When the cane broke, Trang switched to beating the child with a 90cm long wooden stick and forcing VA to kneel in the dog cage.
At the climax, Trang used a dangerous weapon to hit the vital area of the VA for nearly 4 hours, causing the child's death.
Thai is the person who directly raised and took care of baby VA. He saw Trang beat and torture her for many days and hours, but remained indifferent, did not stop her, and did not take any action to protect or shelter his child.
On December 22, 2021, after learning that Trang had beaten VA to death, Thai logged into the camera management application and deleted all data from the 4 cameras in the apartment to conceal Trang's crime.
According to Vietnamnet
