The Kampot Provincial Court on Friday charged a 47-year-old man with premeditated murder after he confessed to killing his cousin with an ax earlier in the week, an official said.
Following his arrest on Wednesday, Phim Phon, 47, admitted to hacking his cousin Phim Khon, 57, to death and beating his daughter the night before in retaliation for his cousin’s decision to build a fence along a footpath near their homes in Kompong Trach district.
He also told police that he had recruited three friends from Sihanoukville to help him carry out the attack.
According to Kong Sokhorn, chief of the provincial police’s penal bureau, Mr. Phon twice attempted to kill his cousin over the fence and footpath—which both men lay claim to—before succeeding on Tuesday night.
Mr. Sokhorn said Mr. Phon was questioned at the provincial court on Friday and charged with premeditated murder.
“The suspect is in prison now, but we are working to arrest the [other] people who were involved in the murder,” he said.
