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After developing feelings for a married woman with 4 children, when he failed to invite her to a motel, Mr. Nguyen Van Liem (born in 1967, in Dan Phuong, Hanoi) secretly brought gasoline to burn down his ex-lover’s house.
On August 13, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Van Liem (born 1967, in Dan Phuong) to 13 years in prison for murder and 1 year in prison for property destruction.
According to the indictment, in 2017, defendant Liem met and had a romantic relationship with Ms. Tran Thi H. (born in 1980, both living in Dan Phuong). By the end of 2022, Ms. H. wanted to end the relationship so she cut off contact with the defendant.
Around July 2023, Mr. Liem frequently called and asked Ms. H. to go to a motel, but Ms. H. did not agree. Angry at being rejected, the defendant had the idea of burning down his ex-lover’s house in revenge.
To carry out his intention, at around 3:30 a.m. on August 15, 2023, Mr. Liem prepared a lighter, a piece of paper, and a bottle containing about 250ml of gasoline.
Defendant in court. Photo: TT
After that, this person put on a mask, brought his “tools” and cycled to Ms. H’s house. Upon arrival, Mr. Liem stopped his bike close to the fence, observed that the lights in the house were off, there were no people around, and there were many motorbikes and bicycles in the yard.
This person poured all the gasoline in the bottle onto the motorbike parked against the fence and lit it on fire, throwing it inside. The fire that started from the motorbike spread to other vehicles and into the house. When he saw the fire, Mr. Liem returned home to hide the tools of the crime.
At the time Mr. Liem used gasoline to burn down the house, Ms. H. and her husband were selling fruit at Nhon market (Nam Tu Liem district). At that time, Ms. H. and her husband’s four children were sleeping in a room on the second floor.
Ms. H.’s eldest child, T. (born in 2002), discovered smoke and fire and called the fire department to inform her parents. T. also took her younger siblings into the bathroom to avoid the fire. The fire burned Ms. H.’s four children.
In addition, all property including 5 motorbikes; 3 bicycles, electric cars and some household items were completely burned.
Upon receiving the news, the fire prevention and fighting force of Dan Phuong District Police coordinated with the commune police and local people to extinguish the fire and take the victims to the emergency room.
According to the assessment results, Ms. H.’s children suffered from 1-4% health damage. The total value of Ms. H.’s family’s assets damaged was nearly 159 million VND.
During the investigation, the defendant’s son compensated Ms. H’s family with 140 million VND. The victim’s family continued to request the defendant to compensate an additional 590 million VND, including 390 million VND for property damage and 200 million VND for health damage.