On May 23, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened an appeal trial of the defendant Vi Van Phuong (born in 1968, in Luc Nam, Bac Giang) for the crime of "Murder". The victim was the defendant's biological mother, Ms. Nguyen Thi Vui (born in 1926). The trial was opened following the defendant's appeal.
Previously, on August 19, 2019, the People's Court of Bac Giang province sentenced defendant Vi Van Phuong to death for murder.
According to the accusation at that time, Ms. Vui was blind and lived with Vi Van Phuong's family. In 2009, the defendant and his wife borrowed 1.5 taels of gold from Ms. Vui to send their son to work abroad. In August 2011, the son returned home ahead of schedule, and defendant Phuong had not yet paid the debt to his mother.
In 2011, the defendant continued to borrow money from some relatives and the Social Policy Bank of Luc Nam district to send his wife, Nguyen Thi Mai, to work abroad.
Defendant Vi Van Phuong in court. Photo: VA
The defendant Phuong’s four older children went to work and study far away, so at home there was only the defendant, his blind mother and his youngest son. Since July 2012, Mrs. Vui has repeatedly asked her son to pay the debt, but defendant Phuong has not paid yet.
In September 2012, Ms. Vui learned that her daughter-in-law sent money home to pay off her debt, so she repeatedly asked her son for money. The accusation was that the defendant Phuong was upset because the money his wife sent home was not enough to pay off other people's debts, while his mother asked for gold.
Due to difficult economic circumstances, having to take care of his blind mother for many years and being asked by Mrs. Vui to pay a debt of gold, defendant Phuong had the intention of killing his mother.
At about 11:00 a.m. on October 5, 2012, after eating at a relative's house, defendant Phuong returned home. Seeing his mother lying on the bed, defendant Phuong took a machete from the corner of the room and slashed Mrs. Vui's neck and shoulders many times, causing the victim's death.
The case is dragging on.
In April 2013, the People’s Court of Bac Giang Province sentenced defendant Vi Van Phuong to death for “Murder”. Four days later, defendant Phuong appealed, claiming his innocence. The appellate court did not accept the appeal, upholding the first instance verdict.
Afterwards, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Procuracy appealed the August 28, 2013 criminal appellate judgment of the Supreme People's Court in Hanoi, requesting the Supreme People's Court's Judicial Council to conduct a review trial and annul the appellate and first instance criminal judgments.
On November 7, 2016, the Supreme People's Court's Council of Judges conducted a review trial and decided to annul the first instance and appellate judgments for reinvestigation.
According to the Supreme People's Procuracy, the defendant's motive for killing his mother is not convincing because neighbors and friends consider him to be affectionate and filial to his mother. Although Mrs. Vui has been blind for many years, her son still takes care of her and does not mistreat her. The defendant paid back the gold loan to his mother before Mrs. Vui died. It is necessary to clarify the defendant's motive and purpose for committing the crime...
Brought to trial on August 19, 2019, once again, defendant Vi Van Phuong did not admit to killing his mother. However, the panel of judges found that the defendant's motive for committing the crime was debt, so they sentenced Vi Van Phuong to death.
At this appeal hearing, the representative of the People's Procuracy said that there was not enough evidence to charge the defendant Vi Van Phuong with killing his biological mother.
According to the representative of the People's Procuracy, the first instance court accused Mr. Phuong of killing his mother with two pieces of evidence: a blood-stained white shirt and a machete as the murder weapon. However, many witnesses said that Mr. Phuong did not wear this shirt that day.
Regarding the machete as evidence, if this tool was used to slash Mrs. Vui while the victim was lying on the bed, it would have left traces on the bed and mat, but the case file did not show this. Witnesses also did not see any blood on the defendant when they arrived at the scene.
The representative of the People's Procuracy said that the defendant's motive for committing the crime was determined by the court of first instance to be due to a conflict related to borrowing 1.5 taels of gold and "his mother's difficult life and lack of sympathy", but Mr. Phuong's family's economy was stable at that time, his wife had just sent 50 million VND from abroad. His brother and neighbors also said that Mr. Phuong was "a filial son" and had taken care of his mother for many years, so the motive for committing the crime was unclear.
There are also contradictions regarding the time of the victim's death, which need to be clarified. The defendant once stated that he killed his mother at 9am and then went to work with everyone else. However, this statement was refuted by witnesses. Witnesses said that they worked with Mr. Phuong all morning and had lunch together, and the defendant only left after 11am.
According to the representative of the People's Procuracy, the defendant Phuong gave inconsistent statements, sometimes admitting guilt, sometimes not. The representative of the People's Procuracy requested the panel of judges to annul the first instance verdict convicting Vi Van Phuong of killing his blind mother and to reinvestigate.
(Source: Vietnamnet)
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