~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnamese-born briton jailed for killing priest

A Vietnamese-born British man was sentenced to 15 years in jail for murdering a Roman Catholic priest with whom he was travelling, media in Hanoi reported today. Christopher Doan Thanh, 28, was sentenced on Tuesday at the end of his one-day trial in central Hue, 400 miles south of Hanoi.

Thanh was convicted of killing Peter Dao Duc Diem, 60, a Vietnamese-born Roman Catholic priest from London, the People’s Army newspaper said. A court found Thanh stabbed Diem to death on January 24 last year following a dispute in a hotel room they shared.

The court ordered Thanh to pay 95 million dong (£3,300) to the murdered priest’s relatives. The two men checked into the Truong Giang Hotel together on January 23, and Thanh identified himself as Diem’s adopted son. Thanh was arrested on January 25 after police found blood stains on his shirt which matched the murdered priest’s blood.

Diem was ordained as a priest in Vietnam in 1969. Ten years later, after 14 unsuccessful attempts, he escaped his homeland by sea. He was on his first trip back to Vietnam when he was murdered.

The Press Association (.uk) - January 08, 2004.