Vietnamese men get 12 and 13 years jail for killing compatriot

Two Vietnamese men have been jailed for more than 12 years after being found guilty by Taoyuan District Court in Taiwan of murdering a compatriot in May last year.

On the afternoon of May 14, 2017, the 26-year-old defendant surnamed Bui was drinking with friends outside a workers’ hostel in Pingzhen district in Taoyuan city, China Times reported.

The 23-year-old victim, also surnamed Bui and a resident there, passed by and asked them not to consume alcohol in the neighborhood.

The 26-year-old was angered and asked a 28-year-old compatriot surnamed Nguyen for help get back at the man for his criticism. The pair were said to have armed themselves with a fruit knife and a wooden bat and attacked the victim.

Wounded by the knife and beaten badly, the victim saw a small pond and jumped into it in a bid to evade the pair pursuing him.

His attackers, knowing the victim could not swim and seeing him going up and down, chose not to rescue him. Indeed, they started throwing rocks, which made the victim even more frightened and caused him to scream for help.

With the man apparently drowning in the two-meter-deep pond, the pair fled in a taxi.

Three days later, the victim’s body was found floating in the pond, and police learnt that the man had been attacked.

The defendants told the court that they threw stones at the victim in a bid to guide him out of the water. However, the judge did not accept their explanation.

Bui and Nguyen were both found guilty of murder. Bui was jailed for 13 years and two months while Nguyen was sentenced to 12 years and eight months.

They will be deported back to Vietnam once they have served their sentences. However, they are also entitled to appeal.