A Mobile County jury has convicted Dung Van Nguyễn of manslaughter in the stabbing death of a fellow shrimp boat worker, Chien Vo, following a killing that left Vo's body dumped in a canal and his accused killer back at work within days. The verdict came after prosecutors sought a murder conviction, but jurors instead returned the lesser-included charge.
Nguyễn and Vo worked aboard the same shrimp boat in Bayou La Batre, according to NBC 15, which reported that the two men had an altercation the State believes involved money. After that argument ended, the outlet reported, Nguyễn returned with a knife and fatally stabbed Vo. Coverage of the verdict places the stabbing on April 15, 2023, while an earlier report on the charges against Nguyễn, from al.com, said the killing occurred on April 14, 2023; that report also identified Vo as a 71-year-old man and said Nguyễn was 55.
Surveillance footage shown to jurors reportedly captured the aftermath in grim detail. Per the NBC 15 report, the footage showed Nguyễn using the boat's winch to pull Vo's body from inside the cabin, then tying the body to a steel plate and pushing it through a hatch into the canal.
Jury Rejects Murder Charge for Lesser Offense
Nguyễn had been indicted on murder, but jurors found him guilty of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter instead, the station's report states. His defense argued he acted in self-defense, telling jurors that Vo punched him in the eye before Nguyễn pulled the knife, according to FOX10 News. A separate, earlier FOX10 report on the case going to the jury had similarly noted that Nguyễn's attorney said he acted in self-defense.
Alabama law allows for more than one path to a manslaughter conviction, and it remains unclear which theory jurors in this case accepted. FOX10's report on the verdict states plainly that it is unclear which theory the jury accepted — whether recklessness or extreme provocation. Under the Code of Alabama, a person commits manslaughter if they recklessly cause another person's death, according to Alabama's criminal code.
Prosecutor Blasts Defendant's Return to Work
Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood did not mince words describing what happened after Vo's death. Nguyễn tied Vo's body to a steel plate and pushed him into the canal after fatally stabbing him, then continued working for weeks as though nothing had happened, Blackwood said, according to NBC 15's account of the case. “That callous disregard for another human being's life is appalling,” Blackwood said.
Blackwood also told WKRG that prosecutors intend to push for a stiff punishment at sentencing. “We will seek a sentence that reflects the gravity of what this defendant did,” Blackwood said.
Sentencing Set for February
A judge has scheduled sentencing for February 4, 2027. FOX10's report on the conviction states that Nguyễn faces 10 to 20 years in prison and that prosecutors said they intend to seek the maximum sentence. No sentence has been handed down, and the case remains pending until that hearing.
