A 32-YEAR-OLD Battambang man is facing murder charges after he confessed to strangling a woman at her home in Banon district’s Phnom Sampov commune on Saturday, police said.

Provincial police chief Sar Thet said suspect Mao Kuok Dim was arrested after the funeral of his alleged victim Top Tin, 31, which took place the day after the killing.

Under questioning from police, he said, Mao Kuok Dim confessed to killing the woman at her home after visiting her to borrow some money.

“He visited the woman’s house from the back entrance, aiming to borrow some money from her, at the same time that she finished bathing,” Sar Thet said.

He said the woman, concerned the intruder was a thief, screamed, causing the suspect to panic. In the ensuing panic, he strangled the woman with her shirt.

Police tracked down Mao Kuok Dim after he fled from the scene of the crime on the victim’s motorbike, which he then tried to sell at a pawnshop. The pawnshop owner contacted the police after becoming suspicious that Mao Kuok Dim had no registration papers for the vehicle.

“We will send him to face intentional murder charges at the provincial court following his confession,” Sar Thet said, and added that he would likely be charged today.