A man has been sentenced to 17 and a half years in jail for the murder of a St Albans drug dealer in an armed robbery that went wrong.
At a sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court late last month, unemployed father of two Vatthana Chounlamountry was described as living “a chaotic existence” due to his ice addiction.
With circumstances “spiralling out of control”, and two children aged four and eight months to care for, Chounlamountry wanted money to move to New South Wales and start afresh.
He decided to rob 23-year-old Thanh Phong Nguyen, who was dealing drugs from the games room of a St Albans house he shared with his own two small children, mother, stepfather and siblings.
The court heard Chounlamountry and his wife were regular customers at Nguyen’s home to buy crystal meth.
On May 6, 2014, Chounlamountry entered an unlocked door into the games room, and threatened Nguyen with a large knife. Chounlamountry said Nguyen began to wrestle with the accused, and the dealer was stabbed in the chest during the struggle.
Chounlamountry said he did not intend to stab the victim, but panicked and stabbed Nguyen in the neck, and several more times, after the victim cried out for help. A pathologist found nine knife wounds to Nguyen’s left arm, chest, neck and back, and three to the chest.
Chounlamountry was arrested three days later at a Footscray motel.
