Updated: 6:58pm, Monday March 19, 2018
A man who confessed to killing a woman and stuffing her body into an ice cooler in Kandal province told police that he did so because of a $2,000 gambling debt.
During a re-enactment of the crime on Monday, 31-year-old Soeu Sopheng showed police how he wired the bathroom in his house to electrocute the victim as she showered before stabbing her to death.
He then showed police how he sold the victim’s motorbike, bought an ice cooler, put her body inside and drove it to the bridge.
Police now believe Sopheng, a phone repairman in Sen Sok district’s Phnom Penh Thmey commune, acted alone in the brutal murder.
Kandal Provincial Police Chief Eav Chamreoun, who called the crime “most horrible”, said two other suspects arrested Sunday – Sopheng’s brother and wife – were released later that day after questioning.
Authorities also arrested another man, 48-year-old Heam Sok Heng, who bought the victim’s motorbike, accusing him of accepting stolen goods. However, Chamroeun said police do not believe Sok Heng was involved in the murder.
The victim, 29-year-old Yoeun Theany of Kampong Cham province, had moved back to Cambodia from South Korea about a year ago, Chamroeun said.
According to Chamreoun, Sopheng will be sent to the Kandal Provincial Court on Tuesday and is expected to be charged with premeditated murder.
