A garment worker who allegedly disposed of a co-worker’s body after his friend raped and murdered the woman was charged by the Kandal Provincial Court on Saturday, police said Monday.
Sam Ol Mony, 30, is wanted by police over the rape, robbery and murder of Sann Asros, 22, his neighbor who worked at Tak Sun Enterprise factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district.
Her body was discovered on February 28—eight days after she went missing from her rental room behind the factory—about 40 km away in a ditch off of National Road 61 in Kandal province’s Ponhea Leu district.
Keo Chhay, 27, another worker at the factory, was arrested at his rental room—also behind the factory—on Friday, according to Dangkao district penal police chief Huor Minh Vang.
“According to our investigation, he was involved with transporting the victim’s body to abandon it in Kandal province’s Ponhea Leu district to destroy evidence,” he said.
The police officer declined to say whether Mr. Chhay has provided any leads on the whereabouts of the alleged murderer.
Chao Vuthy, deputy chief of the Kandal provincial serious crimes bureau, said that Mr. Chhay was charged on Saturday with conspiring to commit murder, adding that the suspect’s Toyota Camry was still being examined by police.
“He denied being involved, but why was his car covered in blood?”
Police have said that $1,500 in cash was missing from the murdered woman’s rental room, along with jewelry, her 2013 Honda motorbike and two smartphones.
Ly Sann, the father of Sann Asros, said that Mr. Chhay asked him for money about a week after his daughter went missing, following the identification of Mr. Ol Mony as the suspected murderer.
“He asked me for 30,000 riel [about $7.50] because he said he knew where to find Mr. Reak at a gambling place and needed the money to get in,” said Mr. Sann, using a nickname for Mr. Ol Mony.
“He told me the next day that he could not find him.”
