The suspect in the death of a KTV worker was arrested on Tuesday in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district. The victim’s body was found on May 14 by military personnel in Siem Reap’s Srey Snom district.
Uy Chhon, chief of the crime office at Siem Reap provincial police station, said Mao Sok Thai, 26, “murdered the victim, who was his girlfriend, because the suspect was angry with her for constantly visiting him at his workplace. Sok Thai was also jealous of the victim meeting other men.”
The victim’s body was found in a village in Sleng Spean commune, some 100 metres from a road construction site under the supervision of engineers from Unit 178 of the Ministry of National Defence.
This led to speculation that Sok Thai was attached to Unit 178.
However, Srey Snom police inspector Un Sros said investigations revealed that the suspect was not a soldier with the unit.
Sros said: “The [engineering] unit said the suspect was a truck driver who had started working there recently. We will look into the suspect as we pursue the case.”
A post-mortem suggested the victim was strangled and also received a blow to the head.
Sros added that the suspect murdered the victim in a truck at the construction site and then moved the body from the crime scene to the village.
