Police have arrested and were seeking charges against a 20-year-old Prey Veng province man who they say helped beat to death and then beheaded his friend in a dispute over $30 and a prostitute.
Officials arrested Pouv Sam Art, who was known as Ambel, Saturday morning near Phsar Olympic as he returned from Prey Veng in search of a job, Tuol Kok district Police Chief Kim Horn said Monday.
Pouv Sam Art was arrested in connection with the Feb 16 beating death of his roommate Kong Tay, 22, an ethnic Vietnamese fruit truck driver found beheaded in his bathroom.
Appearing before the media Monday, Pouv Sam Art admitted he recruited his friends “Teat” and “Douy” to kill Kong Tay because he was having sex with Pouv Sam Art’s girlfriend, a prostitute, and because Kong Tay would not lend him $30.
“I love her so much,” Pouv Sam Art told reporters regarding the girlfriend.
Pouv Sam Art told reporters Monday he planned the crime for two days. On Feb 16 around 1 pm Kong Tay was watching television. He asked Pouv Sam Art to go buy him some lunch. Pouv Sam Art went to the back of the home and let both Teat and Douy into the house. The men sneaked behind Kong Tay, Pouv Sam Art said.
Teat hit Kong Tay on the back of the head with a metal tool, Pouv Sam Art said. Pouv Sam Art then took a knife and hacked at his roommate’s throat, the suspect said.
Kong Tay slumped over and died, Pouv Sam Art said. All three men dragged his body into the bathroom, where they washed their hands of the dead man’s blood.
Grabbing the dead man’s phone, which they later sold, the three suspects fled, Pouv Sam Art said.
