An artist accused of murdering a Phnom Penh business owner appeared in court yesterday, almost a year after the victim was found with multiple stab wounds in the bathroom of her own internet cafe.

Dang Sopheak, 22, was charged with intentional murder at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over the grisly killing of 24-year-old Lim Chhunkim on the evening of September 28, 2014.

Sopheak, who was a regular customer at the shop in Sen Sok district’s Teuk Thla commune, is accused of killing Chhunkim during a robbery.

“After killing the victim, he hid her body in the shop’s bathroom, before escaping,” he added.

Chhunkim was found with her throat slashed and her abdomen so badly stabbed that her intestines were spilling out.

While Sopheak denied the accusations, Chhunkim’s younger brother Lim Hokming testified that he was the only person left at the premises at closing time.

Hokming said Chhunkim had gone upstairs to ask Sopheak to leave, but had not returned. When he went looking for his sister, he said he was electrically shocked by Sopheak, who then escaped.

A verdict is due on September 11.