The family members of two brothers suspected of fatally shooting Funcinpec adviser Om Radsady provided alibis for at least one of the suspects on Thursday, saying that the suspect was at home on the day Om Radsady was killed.
“These charges are not right—my husband did not do anything,” said Keo Choranai, 22, the wife of 21-year-old suspect Ear Naren, who was arrested with his 28-year-old brother, Ear Chhoukrath. “The allegation that he is a robber is meaningless.”
Police arrested both men on Tuesday and are currently holding them at the judicial prison in Phnom Penh, also known as PJ prison.
Police on Thursday were scheduled to bring both suspects to Phnom Penh Municipal Court to face charges in connection with the shooting. However, the authorities were unable to complete the paperwork necessary to bring the suspects to court and rescheduled the arraignment for today, said Heng Pov, deputy municipal police chief.
Om Radsady was shot to death at around noon on Feb 18 as he left a restaurant in Chamkar Mon district with nine Funcinpec members. The assailant reportedly shot Om Radsady and then fled on a Honda AX-1 motorcycle being driven by a second man.
Ear Naren, however, was reportedly at home sleeping at noon on Feb 18, Keo Choranai said, speaking at the Phnom Penh Courthouse.
Ear Naren, who is a military trainer of the Unit 911 Commandos in Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, also moonlights as a nighttime security guard for a car parking garage in Phnom Penh, his wife said.
Earlier on the day Om Radsady was killed, Ear Naren got off work at the parking garage and picked up his wife at the XO karaoke club where she works, she said. The two then went to their house in Phnom Penh, where Ear Naren slept until about 1 pm before waking up to eat a meal, Keo Choranai said.
“We did [on Feb 18] what we do every day,” she said. “We both work nights, so during the day sleep.”
Previously, the authorities said Ear Naren was 29 years old. However, his wife on Thursday said that he falsified his age on the military application and is in fact 21 years old.
The day before the police arrested Ear Naren, his military commander ordered him to go on a “special mission” in Sihanoukville, Keo Choranai said, and he got on a military transport that was supposed to go to the port city, she said.
Police on Tuesday informed Keo Choranai that her husband had been taken into custody. The police searched her house and confiscated some military clothing.
Ear Chhoukrath was not in Phnom Penh on the day Om Radsady was shot, said Num Sarem, 48, the mother of the two suspects.
Also speaking at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday, Num Sarem said that her older son works for a car rental company and frequently drives to Mondolkiri province.
On the day in question, she said Ear Chhoukrath, who is a former soldier, was working in Mondolkiri.
Num Sarem, who lives two floors below her son Ear Naren in the same building, also said her younger son was home at the time Om Radsady was killed.
Police had said previously that at least one of the suspects confessed to the killing, but did not identify which brother allegedly confessed. A Ministry of Interior statement on Wednesday stated that police have as evidence a Nokia 9210 cell phone, a K-59 pistol and a Honda AX-1 motorcycle.
