Ngo Dinh Can - Trial and Execution

Trial and Execution

It was reported that General Nguyễn Khánh — who had deposed Minh in a January 1964 coup — offered Cẩn exile if he handed over his foreign bank deposits. Cẩn protested, saying that he had no money. Đôn later claimed that Khánh would have executed Cẩn anyway, as Cẩn would have known of the corruption that the generals were party to. During the Ngô era, Khánh commanded the ARVN II Corps, which had operated in the central highlands under Cẩn's supervision. Despite having helped to arrest Cẩn, Lodge advised Khánh to be restrained in his handling of the case for fear of stoking religious resentment or upsetting international opinion with a death penalty.

Lodge later claimed the South Vietnamese prosecutors failed to make any case against Cẩn. The Vietnamese leader also had to contend with the other side of the arguments, from those who considered themselves to be victims of the Diệm regime. During the trial, Thích Trí Quang, along with other opponents of the old regime, lobbied for a death sentence for Cẩn. He argued that if Cẩn lived, he could regain power along with his late brothers' supporters. He told Lodge that if the Americans did not support a tough sentence, then the Vietnamese Buddhist community's opinion of Washington would fall. Lodge was initially critical of Quang's campaigning against Cẩn. Cẩn was sentenced to death. He appealed to the head of state for clemency; his lawyers used a provision in the legal code to make the appeal. This placed Minh — who was still the titular head of state — in the position of approving a third death in the Ngô family, having already ordered his bodyguard Nguyễn Văn Nhung to execute Diệm and Nhu during the coup.

Cẩn's diabetes worsened during the course of the trial, and by the time he was executed, his elderly mother had died. He suffered a heart attack while in custody. On 9 May 1964, was carried on a stretcher into the prison courtyard and assisted by guards and two Catholic priests to stand alongside the post to which he was tied. He was blindfolded against his request and shot in front of approximately 200 spectators. Lodge defended his actions, claiming the United States did all it could to prevent the execution. The ambassador claimed Cẩn would have been allowed to seek refuge at the U.S. embassy, despite the fact that he had ordered Conein to intercept Cẩn at the airport. Rev. Cao Văn Luân, Catholic rector of Huế University who had been fired for falling afoul of the powerful Archbishop Thục, asked Lodge that Cẩn not be executed. According to Luân, Lodge reportedly assured the rector the execution would not take place. Cẩn left his personal fortune, which had indeed been deposited in foreign banks, to Catholic charities.