The suspect in the murder of a Dutch UN consultant and the brutal attack on her 19-month-old daughter is expected to be charged with murder by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court today, police said yesterday.

Deputy Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Chuon Narin said yesterday that 35-year-old suspect Chea Pin had been preliminarily charged by police, and would be officially charged today.

“The suspect was [preliminarily] charged with murder, and we will send him to the court [on Friday],” Narin said.

A police official at the court, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspect had actually been sent to court yesterday, but could not be charged because of a problem with his paperwork.

“The case file had some holes,” the official said. “Therefore the court sent the suspect back to the police to complete the case file, and will send him back to the court [on Friday].”

Pin was arrested on Tuesday night for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of UN Habitat consultant Daphna Beerdsen, and the assault on her daughter, Dana Oele, in a botched burglary on Monday.

Dana was airlifted to Thailand in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

An employee at Bangkok General Hospital, where Oele has undergone surgery for her injuries, said that the infant was still in intensive care as of yesterday.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STUART WHITE