Provincial authorities charged two siblings Tuesday with the stabbing death and robbery of their stepmother—the wife of a Kandal province court official.
The Kandal provincial court formally charged Lon Lin, 20, and Lon Sim, 23, with killing Duong Srei Mom, the 26-year-old wife of Kandal Provincial Deputy Prosecutor Ly Lon, early Monday morning while Ly Lon was at work, police and court officials said. Keo Virak, 20—the boyfriend of Lon Sim—is also charged with helping to kill and rob Duong Srei Mom, officials said.
“They must be punished, they must go to jail,” said Chheng Phat, chief prosecutor in Kandal provincial court. He said they could get 10- to 20-year prison sentences if convicted.
According to police authorities, the suspects stabbed Duong Srei Mom six times in the hip with a pair of scissors and stole money and gold from her before escaping by motorbike. Police arrested the suspects hours after the crime in Punhea Leu district, Kandal province, with some of the victim’s belongings on them, said Kem Sokun, a police officer in Ang Snoul district.
Police investigating the case said the robbery was just a pretext for the murder. The real motive for the killing, police said, was to retaliate against Ly Lon for refusing to allow his son Lon Lin to live with the family when he left the monkhood after four years. Ly Lon said he did not allow Lon Lin to live with his family because he was a member of a teen gang before he became a monk.
“Usually, I love children and support them much more than my wife, but they had done the worst thing they could do,” said Ly Lon, who was spoke Wednesday after the funeral of Duong Srei Mom. He said he was not sorry that the police arrested his children because of the heinous nature of the crime.
Lon Sim and Lon Lin, both children from Ly Lon’s previous marriage, lived in Punhea Leu district with their natural mother. Ly Lon had been married to Duong Srei Mom for one year.
