A local newspaper stringer who had written about illegal logging was found dead in the back of a car yesterday in Rattanakiri province’s O’Chum district.

Hang Serei Oudom, 44, was a stringer for Vorakchun Khmer, or Khmer Hero, newspaper.

Police said his body was covered in blood and that he had been there for almost a week.

The newspaper announced yesterday that Oudom’s death “showed cruelty and injustice”.

Rith Ratanak, editor-in-chief of the twice-weekly, said yesterday that Oudom had implicated businessmen in his stories.

“Illegal logging is the hot case, so he must have received death threats. But my newspaper has never got a reaction or complaint from someone after the story prints,” he said.

Em Channy, 20, the wife of the victim, said that Oudom went missing on Friday.

When she called him, she said, a man answered “in a threatening voice”, then hung up.

Police said they were not jumping to conclusions as to the reason for the murder.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chhay Channyda at [email protected]