The Siem Reap Provincial Court on Monday charged two men with premeditated murder for their role in the decapitation of a young woman on Friday evening, officials said.
Chan Chhaya, 40, a Thai-language tour guide at the Angkor Archaeological Park, and Neb Sith, a driver for a Chinese construction company, were arrested in Siem Reap City over the weekend in connection with the murder of Len Seila, 23, an employee of the city’s Cambodian Cultural Village whose headless body was found under a bed at the Moon Rise Guesthouse, according to police.
Her head was discovered in a fire pit at Mr. Chhaya’s house after the victim’s mother said that her daughter had recently ended a relationship with the man, who was already married.
While Mr. Chhaya admitted to strangling the woman with a krama before severing her head with a knife—apparently jealous that she was dating another man—before moving her body to a different room at the guesthouse, Mr. Sith was apprehended because he had slept on the bed under which the body had been placed, officials said at the time.
On Monday, however, deputy provincial police chief Thong Sokun said Mr. Chhaya had implicated Mr. Sith following their arrest.
“Chan Chhaya first told us that Mr. Sith was involved, but later denied knowing him,” he said. “The court charged them both with premeditated murder…meaning they face life in prison.”
