On 17/9, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Nguyen Van Hoan, 52 years old, to life imprisonment for murder and six years in prison for illegally possessing military weapons. The combined sentence means Hoan will serve life imprisonment.

Hoan had a history of criminal offenses, having been sentenced to prison five times for property theft and one time for illegally possessing narcotics.

The indictment states that at midnight on 14/2, Hoan was transporting a sack of scrap collected by his wife to their home on Ngo Gia Tu street, Viet Hung ward.

Upon arriving home, Hoan was washing his hands at the door when his neighbor, Luong, emerged from his house, cursing and grumbling about "water flowing into my house."

Hoan responded, "Water is flowing, but I did not pour a basin of water into your house, so why are you cursing me?" Luong continued to curse and challenged Hoan, saying, "If you want, bring a sword, bring a knife here."

Hoan immediately ran into the kitchen, retrieved a long, pointed knife, and returned to the front gate. The neighbor then kicked Hoan in his right side.

The Procuracy accused Hoan of then using the knife to stab Luong ten times consecutively, causing him to collapse and die at the scene.

Hoan drove to where his wife was collecting trash and told her, "I stabbed someone to death." His wife advised him to surrender himself to the authorities.

Panicked, Hoan rode his motorbike aimlessly and was arrested in Phu Tho later that evening.

Forensic results showed that the victim had an ethanol concentration of 286,6 mg/100ml in his blood.

Hoan's wife and family cooperated with the investigating agency to apprehend Hoan and were therefore not prosecuted for failing to report a crime or concealing a crime.

Hai Thu