Death penalty for man who stabbed his lover to death on Hang Bai street, Hanoi

On June 21, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced defendant Mai Xuan Thai (born in 1982, in Hoang Mai, Hanoi) to death for the crime of "murder".

According to the indictment, around the end of November 2021, through a Yoga class in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, defendant Thai met and had a romantic relationship with Ms. Nguyen Thi Q. (born in 1982, in Hanoi).

By the end of June 2022, a conflict arose between Thai and Ms. Q. and Ms. Q. wanted to end her relationship with her lover. The defendant did not agree and had the intention of meeting Ms. Q. to try to maintain the relationship. If she refused, he would kill his lover and then commit suicide.

Defendant in court

At about 11:30 a.m. on August 11, 2022, defendant Thai arrived in front of the bank where Ms. Q. worked with the intention of following Ms. Q. to a yoga class. When he saw Ms. Q. riding a motorbike out of work, Thai followed Ms. Q. to the gym.

After practicing yoga for a while, the defendant went down first, opened the trunk, took out a sharp knife, put it in his left sleeve, then sat in front of the yoga room door waiting for Ms. Q.

At 1:20 p.m. the same day, Ms. Q. left the gym and headed to work in the direction of Pho Hue - Hang Bai, Hanoi. At this time, defendant Thai drove a motorbike parallel to Ms. Q.

When arriving at house number 17, Hang Bai street, Hanoi, the defendant drove his motorbike ahead, stopped Ms. Q.'s car and said: "What now?" At this time, Ms. Q. replied: "Get out of my life."

While the two were arguing, defendant Thai grabbed his lover's motorbike key and parking card, so Ms. Q. asked for it back, causing the two to struggle with each other.

After that, Ms. Q. walked into a nearby store and asked to borrow a phone to call her relatives. Seeing this, the defendant Thai followed her and gave her the key and parking card.

When Ms. Q. got on the motorbike and was about to leave, the defendant took out a sharp knife that he had prepared earlier and stabbed Ms. Q. once in the back. Suddenly attacked, Ms. Q. got off the motorbike and ran onto the sidewalk. Defendant Thai took the knife and chased after the victim. When he reached the area in front of the Kim Dong cinema, he caught up and used the knife to stab Ms. Q. 13 times, causing the victim to collapse and die on the spot.

Defendant Thai stabbed himself repeatedly in the stomach with a knife to commit suicide, then threw the weapon on the street, tried to approach the place where Ms. Q. had died, lay down and hugged the victim. Afterwards, he was taken to the hospital by people for emergency treatment and did not die.

On August 12, 2022, defendant Mai Xuan Thai was arrested by the police to investigate the act of murder.

Regarding civil liability, during the investigation phase of the case, the defendant’s family representative compensated the victim’s family 200 million VND to remedy the consequences. The victim’s family requested Thai to compensate an additional 400 million VND to raise Ms. Q.’s two young children until they turn 18.

The jury ordered the defendant to pay 600 million VND in compensation to support the deceased's child and mother.

According to Vietnamnet