The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced a 24-year-old man to life in prison for the December 2013 murder of 13-year-old girl, whom he killed in order to steal a pair of earrings that cost an estimated $56.
“Khom Bora is imprisoned for life…on the charge of premeditated murder,” Judge Leang Samnath announced in court.
During his trial last month, Mr. Bora claimed that he only helped carry out the murder of Kang Botumvatey, and that a friend named Srey Neang, a transgender woman, was the one who actually strangled the girl.
“In the investigating judge stage, the judge asked the police to investigate him [Srey Neang], but they still cannot find any background on him,” Judge Samnath said outside the courtroom yesterday.
“We have not issued an arrest warrant because we do not know his background.”
