According to Vietnamese media reports, the Hanoi People's Court on October 16 sentenced Australian national McMullen Brian Anthony, born in 1964, to 13 years in prison on a murder charge over a brutal assault on his Vietnamese wife.
Court documents reveal that Anthony met the victim, Nguyen Thi L, on social media in 2023, relocated to Vietnam, and officially registered their marriage in July that year, residing with his wife and her two children from a previous marriage. On the evening of April 19, 2025, Anthony noticed his wife messaging multiple men on her phone, suspecting infidelity. A heated argument erupted, during which the wife threatened to kick him out of the house, quickly escalating into a physical brawl.
During the scuffle, the wife scratched the back of Anthony's hand. Enraged, Anthony grabbed a cylindrical metal rod and struck her torso, knocking her to her knees. Despite her desperate pleas for him to stop, he struck her twice more, hitting her left forearm and the left side of her head. The victim collapsed in a pool of blood. Anthony dropped the weapon, shouted "all crazy" in English, grabbed his handbag and wallet, and fled the scene. The children immediately called an ambulance, and Anthony was arrested by Hanoi police the following day.
Medical reports confirmed the victim suffered a left temporal cerebral contusion, a fractured left parietal bone extending to the sphenoid bone, and orbital trauma. Although her life was saved after being hospitalized until July 21, her injury rate was assessed at 59%.
The verdict reflects Vietnam's strict zero-tolerance approach toward severe violent crime committed by foreign nationals. Cross-border marriages inevitably encounter cultural and communication barriers, and any personal dispute must be handled legally and calmly rather than resorting to violence.
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