Not given 10,000 VND to drink alcohol, young man beats 85-year-old woman to death

On January 14, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial of defendant Lo Van Duong (born in 1995), residing in Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district (Nghe An) for murder.

According to the indictment, on the evening of April 20, 2024, Lo Van Duong's family organized a meal and drank alcohol. Because Duong was HIV positive and lived a dirty life, the family did not allow him to eat with them. They gave Duong food to eat and drink with a friend.

After eating, Duong walked to the house of Ms. Lo Thi H. (born in 1939). When Ms. H. opened the door, Duong said: "Please give me 10,000 to buy some wine." At this time, Ms. H. pushed Duong away and said: "Go home, I'll give you some tomorrow, it's late now." Immediately after that, Duong took the iron bar he was carrying and hit Ms. H. repeatedly, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious. After committing the crime, Duong went home to sleep.

The next morning, Ms. H's son came home and found his mother dead with multiple head injuries, so he reported it to the police.

Ky Son district police investigated and arrested the perpetrator, Lo Van Duong.

During the detention, the investigation agency found that Lo Van Duong had abnormal psychological symptoms, so they requested a psychiatric assessment. The conclusion was that Duong had a mental disorder due to excessive drug use.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the murder. Regarding the cause of the crime, the defendant stated that he asked the victim for money but was not given it, leading to anger and beating Ms. H. to death.

The jury sentenced Lo Van Duong to 20 years in prison for murder. In the civil case, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim’s family more than 250 million VND.