The suspect was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly used an axe to hack his wife to death in front of his son. Police
A commune police officer has been arrested for killing his wife in Ang Tnaot village in Ang Tasom Commune, Tram Kak district, Takeo province. The act was allegedly carried out in the presence of his stepson.
Provincial serious crimes bureau chief Sem Socheat said on Sunday that the 46-year-old suspect was an Ang Tasom commune police officer.
He said Tram Kak district police arrested him on Saturday after he allegedly used an axe to hack his wife to death in front of his son.
Provincial police, he said, began questioning the suspect on Sunday and are reviewing local police reports to see if any more work must be carried out before sending the suspect to court.
“If the police report is sufficient, we will send the suspect immediately to court. But if we find that the report needs work, we will supplement it and the suspect can be questioned more before landing in court,” he said.
Tram Kak district deputy police chief Sok Sochea said the suspect had several previous wives. He then fell in love with Tith Phalay, now 21. They have a three-year-old daughter.
On December 25 last year, Phalay left home without telling the suspect where she was going. Last month, she called her husband and said she was living in the capital and working as a garment worker.
Phalay then began sending money home to support her daughter, he noted, but did not visit them.
However, she went home for a visit on Friday, which led to an argument with her husband who accused her of working as a prostitute and not a garment worker as she claimed.
Phalay accused her husband of being a drug addict and drunkard who did not adequately care for their daughter.
Sochea said according to the suspect’s confession, he was upset that his wife abandoned the family without any notice and this made him become jealous and conclude she was betraying him while working as a prostitute.
The next morning, the pair again began to fight and the suspect took an axe and struck his wife on the right side of her ribs once and again three times on her left collarbone, killing her instantly as his son watched on.
“After killing his wife, the victim did not flee and we went to arrest him,” Sochea said.
He said the suspect’s son witnessed his father hacking his stepmother, but he couldn’t help her.
