Meth addict clubbed partner to death with vacuum cleaner pole, then stabbed her face with a samurai sword
A Vietnamese refugee in Australia was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering his partner in a fit of rage fueled by crystal meth. According to reports, 50-year-old Phuc Thien Tang beat 44-year-old Hoa Thi Huynh to death with the metal pole of a vacuum cleaner. The incident happened when Tang was squatting in the sunroom of an unoccupied home in Melbourne, and was called out by his partner Huynh, a mother of two children, who hated his drug habit.
He allegedly told her to "stop nagging" and to "shut up" before he finally snapped and grabbed the metal pole of the vacuum cleaner and beat her to death with it. Huynh was probably dead before Tang decided to go the extra mile. He grabbed a 28-inch samurai sword that he had bought to protect Huynh from a former lover and stabbed her in the face with it. The sword went in through her nostril and into her brain. The blade was still in her face when her body was discovered later, reported news.com.au.
Tang was sentenced to 25 years behind bars with a minimum term of 20 years by the Australian Supreme Court on August 20. Justice Lesley Taylor said that the crime was "detestable" and what had happened after that "demonstrates that you had no regard for anything except your own interests."
She slammed Tang and called him a "coward" for not helping his partner, leaving her body in the home to be found three days later, and taking her debit card.
The court also heard how Tang injected between 0.1 to 0.2 grams of meth every day in spite of the fact that this would only fuel his rage issues. Huynh had told Tang on the night she was brutally murdered that she did not want him to take the drugs anymore and she paid for it with her life.
Taylor said: "Huynh disliked your habit. Upon your return to the squat house during the early hours of (that morning), you both argued about it. You told Huynh to stop nagging you. Nonetheless, she continued to voice her concerns."
Tang fled the scene after murdering his partner and failed to withdraw money from an ATM so he went back to the place of the crime. He then took Huynh's purse, threw all of her belongings in the garden, and slept in the streets for 13 days before he was finally arrested.
The authorities found a vacuum cleaner pole with "blood and strands of hair attached to it," and a sword at the scene of the crime. Pathologists found it quite difficult to tell what the actual cause of death was but they did verify that she had suffered from multiple blunt force injuries to the left side of her face. Huynh also had blood in her trachea, stomach, and duodenum, which means she swallowed and breathed in blood just before she died. She had markings on her hands and wrists which indicated that she fought back.
The victim impact statement from her two sons expressed "shock and grief". Taylor said: "Each of them speak of missing the small, ordinary interactions with their mother and of a profound sadness that important future events in their lives will not be shared with her." She also told the court that the children are "broken and miserable".
Tang is drug-free for the first time in his adult life. It was reported that he was recently diagnosed with HIV. Taylor has said that the chances of rehabilitation are "guarded at best". The man will not be eligible for parole until at least 2038.