The serious crime bureau of the Ratanakkiri provincial police on Tuesday sent two suspects to the provincial court for their involvement in the murders of 22-year-old Bak Nan and 26-year-old Kim Saroeun near a banana plantation in Kon Mom district on July 23.
Provincial police chief Yin Chamnan identified the suspects as 25-year-old Seth Ly, a resident of Srae Pok Thom village in Kon Mom district’s Serei Mongkol commune and his 28-year-old brother-in-law Ly Kryvan, a resident of Tbuong Khmum province’s Ponhea Kraek district.
Ly was arrested on Sunday in Kratie province’s Chhlong district and Kryvan on Monday in Tbuong Khmum’s Ponhea Kraek district. Ly is suspected of committing the murders while Kryvan is suspected of helping him hide out in Kratie after the incident.
Nan and Saroeun were murdered in the area of Hoang Anh Gia Lai company’s banana plantation in Serei Mongkol commune’s Srae Pok Thom village. Both suffered knife wounds to their throats and abdomens.
“According to the confession of Seth Ly, it happened because the victim Bak Nan committed adultery with the perpetrator’s wife, causing the perpetrator to resent [him] and get revenge,” Chamnan said.
Ly’s wife and Nan’s wife are sisters and Kyrvan is married to Ly’s sister.
Chamnan said on the evening of July 23, Nan and Saroeun were drunk and went hunting for frogs in the banana plantation. Sensing an opportunity, Ly rode his motorbike to the scene and waited for the right time to murder the pair of unsuspecting victims.
Ly then fled Tbuong Khmum’s Ponhea Kraek district to hide from police before travelling to a relative’s house in Kratie’s Chhlong district.
“Currently, the murder case and the two suspects have been sent by police to the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court for further proceedings,” Chamnan said.
Provincial court deputy prosecutor and spokesman Ra Borandy told The Post the suspects are still being questioned by a prosecutor.
