Police in Preah Sihanouk province are trying to identify a plastic-wrapped corpse that washed up on a beach about 20 km north of Sihanoukville on Monday night and has sparked a murder inquiry, an official said on Tuesday.
Villagers walking along the seaside in O’Tres commune in Stung Hav district spotted a large object covering a drain pit in the sand near several large shipping ports at the northern end of the province, said Chan Phearum, deputy district police chief.
The location was quite a distance from the areas frequented by tourists.
Mr. Phearum said the villagers decided to cut the bag
open because it was giving off a bad smell, and found the body of a man aged between 30 and 40 years old and of Asian appearance.
Investigating officers found several stab wounds and strangulation marks on the discovered body, and concluded that the man had been murdered, probably about 10 days ago, Mr. Phearum said.
The victim had also had his hands tied behind his back and his knees tied to his neck, probably in order to compress the body, Mr. Phearum said.
“This is a murder case. We have found a few injuries on the arm and on the back of the body,” he said.
“The perpetrator might have killed the victim by strangling the neck and then stabbing him a few times with a vegetable knife.”
Mr. Phearum said the murder might have been motivated by a personal or business dispute. “This is intentional murder,” he said.
