Sentenced to 13 years in prison – VG

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On Friday afternoon, Hordaland District Court announced the verdict against the 20-year-old.

– The murder happened suddenly, violently and unprovoked, it is stated in the verdict.

The district court found the man guilty of killing Sofie Vo Nguyen. However, he was acquitted of raping Sofie while she was alive, or abusing her after she died, for which he was charged.

He was also found guilty of violating the Animal Welfare Act, by locking Sofie’s cat in her washing machine. The cat was later found dead.

Prosecutor, Acting State Attorney Silje Alsaker Solheim. laid down allegation of 18 years imprisonment for the man when the trial ended on November 30.

Alsaker Solheim said in court that the murder of Sofie was planned, During the trial it was presented several messages the defendant had posted on various social platforms where he wrote about death.

The district court has split in two with regard to the assessment of whether the defendant acted with intent.

The majority, professional judge Anne Horn and one of the co-judges, do not find it proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with intent.

– Although the accused in the time before the murder had made statements about the murder of Sofie, late in the afternoon before the murder, the majority finds that it is not proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the statements were an expression that the defendant had made a decision to kill Sofie, it is stated in the judgment.

– The accused has explained that the messages are expressions of “dark humor” and that he often used provocative statements to get attention, but that the statements were not expressions of thoughts of killing.

Sofie Vo Nguyen and the accused moved to Bergen in August 2020, after she had been offered a study place at the Norwegian School of Management (NHH). They had known each other since childhood, and in court the accused explained that he was “deeply in love” with Sofie.

The court considers that it was aggravating that the deceased was attacked in her own home while she was in bed.

– For general preventive reasons, there must be a strict reaction when murder takes place in the arena where you are supposed to be safest. The murder happened suddenly, violently and unprovoked. Emphasis is also placed on aggravating punishment.

Furthermore, the court writes:

– The accused has been acquitted of mutilation and sleep rape, and the murder was not carried out to hide or commit a sexual assault. Nevertheless, the court considers that it is aggravating that the accused, after persuading the deceased to have sexual intercourse, killed her. In the court’s view, the defendant’s actions prior to the murder had elements of sexual pressure, which means that the actual act of murder
appears more brutal. Furthermore, the court has emphasized that the accused continued the strangulation acts to be sure that the victim was dead.

During the trial it was presented several messages the defendant had posted on various social platforms where he wrote about death.

Among other things, he asked a family member of Sofie if he or she cared if he or Sofie died.

In the majority’s view, the reports are an expression of the defendant’s thoughts about suicide, and also about fantasies about killing Sofie, without him having made a decision to kill her, it is stated in the verdict.

– The majority also points out that the defendant’s other behavior prior to the murder was not in accordance with a decision to kill Sofie, or that he made considerations for and against killing her. He behaved as on a normal day and did not take any preparatory actions to be able to commit murder.

According to the verdict, the majority of the court has seen that the indictment is low and flimsy.

– He could hardly be sure that he would be able to take the life of Sofie, who was about the same size as him, by using only her own physical strength.
Central to the majority’s assessment is the defendant’s explanation that it “clicked for him” when Sofie told that she had become friends with NN (editor’s note)

The majority has emphasized that the deceased in a chat with her sister on 22 September 2020 said that she had not told the accused that she had become friends with NN.

– In the majority’s view, there is reasonable doubt that the defendant was aware that Sofie had become friends with NN prior to her telling him so, and this supports his legal explanation that he killed Sofie in affect and without prior decision or consideration.

– The majority is in some doubt, come to the conclusion that the accused did not kill Sofie on purpose.

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