Australian man jailed for 13 years over attack on Vietnamese wife
A Hanoi court sentenced Australian national McMullen Brian Anthony, 62, to 13 years in prison for attempted murder after he attacked his Vietnamese wife with a metal bar, leaving her with injuries assessed at 59%.
On October 16, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced McMullen Brian Anthony, born in 1964, to 13 years in prison for murder. His Vietnamese wife survived the attack after receiving emergency medical treatment.
According to the indictment, Anthony met Nguyen Thi L., a resident of Phu Thuong Ward in Hanoi and a mother of three children from a previous relationship, through social media in 2023.
After getting to know each other, Anthony moved to Vietnam. The couple married on July 24, 2023, and lived together with two of L.’s children.
At around 6:45 p.m. on April 19, 2025, the couple were sitting on a bed in their second-floor bedroom when Anthony discovered messages exchanged between his wife and several other men.
Suspecting her of having an affair, he began arguing with her.
The argument escalated into a physical confrontation. L. dug her fingernails into the back of Anthony’s hand, causing an injury.
Angered by the incident, Anthony grabbed a metal weightlifting bar and struck his wife once, causing her to fall to her knees on the floor.
L. pleaded with her husband to stop, but he struck her twice more, hitting her left forearm and the left side of her head.
She collapsed onto the floor, bleeding heavily from her head. Seeing that she was motionless, Anthony dropped the metal bar.
When L.’s daughter rushed into the room, Anthony repeatedly shouted an English phrase meaning “Everyone has gone crazy.”
He then took his bag and wallet from beside the bed and left the house.
L.’s two children called an ambulance, which took their mother to hospital for emergency treatment.
According to forensic findings, L. survived because she received timely medical care. Her injuries were assessed as causing 59% bodily harm.
Anthony was arrested by investigators from the Hanoi Police Department on April 20, 2025. (T/H, VNN)
