Police in Siem Reap province arrested a 45-year-old former convict for murder on Monday after he was accused of slitting a woman’s throat with a knife after trying to rape her, police said.
The suspect, Chea Vay, approached the woman, Sam Nath, 45, while she was sitting outside an abandoned house in Chi Kreng district’s Sangvoeuy commune at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday, district police chief Sok Sophea Vuth said.
“The suspect started asking the lady for sex, but she did not agree, so he dragged her behind the house to rape her,” Mr. Sophea Vuth said.
The woman tried to escape, but the suspect “got angry and killed her,” he said.
A boy tending cows witnessed the murder.
When police arrived, Mr. Vay was found next to the body and began threatening officers with the knife, but he was overpowered and arrested, Mr. Sophea Vuth said.
He said the suspect was released from prison a week ago after serving a 12-year sentence for murder.
