Death sentence for the man who killed two people on New Year's Eve in Gia Khanh commune

Defendant Nguyen Nam Truong at the trial

Shooting people

According to the indictment, in late 2019 and early 2020, Truong borrowed 1.1 billion VND from Ms. Le Thi Ngoc L. (born in 1984, residing in Tran Hung Dao ward, Hai Duong city) with an interest rate of 2,000 VND/million VND/day. Truong has paid all the principal and part of the interest. On December 11, 2020, Truong wrote a note that he still owed Ms. L. 520 million VND (this is the interest, this amount will not be calculated with interest).

At about 9:00 p.m. on January 21, 2023, Mr. Le Ngoc Duc (born in 1990, residing in Quang Trung ward, Hai Duong city, Ms. L.'s husband) and Mr. Pham Thanh S. (born in 1984, both residing in Quang Trung ward) came to Truong's house in Cao Duong village, Gia Khanh commune to collect debt. Mr. Duc asked Truong to pay immediately. Because he had no money to pay, Truong asked for a debt extension, but Mr. Duc did not agree. Mr. Duc called and turned on the speakerphone so that Ms. L. could talk to Truong. After that, Truong used his phone to call Ms. L., but Ms. L. did not answer. At this time, Truong thought that Ms. L. would come with some other people and might bring a weapon to beat him, so he went to the area behind the family church, took a knife and put it in the jacket he was wearing, then went up to the second floor of his house and hid it under the headboard.

At 11 p.m. the same day, Ms. L. and two people named Linh and Tung came to Truong's house. Ms. L. asked Truong to pay the debt, but Truong said he had no money to pay and asked for a delay until after Tet. Ms. L. still did not agree and asked Truong to pay before New Year's Eve. Truong told Ms. L. to take whatever furniture in the house she wanted, but Ms. L. still asked to pay.

Truong went up to the second floor, got a gun and a knife, then went down the stairs. When Truong came down with the gun, Ms. L., Mr. Duc, and Mr. S. all stood up. When Truong went down the stairs, he pointed the gun at Ms. L., pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit and injured Ms. L. When seeing Ms. L. being shot, Mr. Duc and Mr. S. rushed toward Truong, so Truong threw the gun on the floor, held the knife in his right hand, and stabbed Mr. S. twice in the chest. Mr. S. ran out into the yard, collapsed, and died on the spot.

A fight then broke out between Mr. Duc and Truong. Truong immediately picked up the gun and took out the remaining bullet from his pocket, loaded it into the gun, then walked close to the position opposite Ms. L. and pulled the trigger, the bullet exploded, hitting Ms. L.'s chest and abdomen, causing her to collapse. Ms. L., Mr. Duc and Truong were taken to Hai Duong General Hospital for emergency treatment. At around 0:00 on January 22, 2023, Ms. L. died of acute blood loss. Mr. Duc suffered soft tissue injuries with a body injury rate of 10%. On January 22, 2023, Nguyen Nam Truong was detained by the Investigation Police Agency (Hai Duong Provincial Police) in an emergency.

Profound lesson

On the morning of June 29, the People's Court of Hai Duong province held a first-instance trial of Nguyen Nam Truong for murder. This is a case that has received much public attention.

Judge Bui Dang Huy, presiding judge of the trial, stated that the defendant’s actions were hooligan and aggressive, infringing on the lives of many other people, causing extremely serious consequences for the victim’s family and relatives, greatly affecting the political security situation and social order and safety. The trial panel found that the defendant should be removed from society to be commensurate with his criminal behavior and to have a general educational, deterrent and preventive effect.

The jury sentenced Nguyen Nam Truong to death for murder under point a, n, clause 1, article 123 of the Penal Code, and compensated the victims a total of more than 239 million VND.

The trial was held at the Gia Khanh Commune People's Committee Hall, right in the defendant's hometown. Many relatives of the victim, defendant and local people came to watch the trial. Through the process of questioning, arguing and sentencing, the Trial Council disseminated the law to those attending the court.

This murder case shows the consequences arising from conflicts in civil relations leading to lack of restraint, hooligan behavior... leaving extremely serious consequences, trading with human lives. In the end, one person died, another received the death penalty, leaving many consequences for society. Therefore, when conflicts arise, each person needs to calmly resolve them so that no one suffers serious consequences and pays a high price for their crimes.

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