Kandal provincial police said yesterday they had still not identified suspects in the execution-style murders of a mother, her daughter and their teenage servant in Takhmau City, although they said they had ruled out robbery as a motive for the killings.
On Saturday morning, police officers found Sok Koeu, 48, her 24-year-old daughter, Seng Muoy Kea, and 15-year-old servant, Pach Sreynia, lying dead on a mattress in their Takhmau commune home, each with a single bullet wound to the head. They also found $10,000 in US dollars hidden under the mattress.
“Our Kandal province policemen are burning our hands and legs to work out this murder, because it is not armed robbery as the victim’s belongings were still under the victim’s mattress and the daughter’s necklace was still with the dead body,” said Iv Chamroeun, Kandal provincial police chief.
“We hope to discover the gunmen soon, but we are waiting for the victims’ relatives to finish their funeral ceremony, and we are cooperating with the victims’ relatives to discover the suspects,” Mr Chamroeun said. He added that authorities were re-examining the bodies to determine the exact kind of gun that was used.
Police officers found the three victims Saturday morning after the family’s Chinese noodle shop failed to open, and forensic evidence indicated the three had been shot 20 hours beforehand.
There was no sign of forced entry, according to Mr Chamroeun, who declined to give more specifics other than to say he believed there were at least two gunmen. “We cannot reveal the details of our investigation to the public because it is ongoing,” he said.
Moeu Chantha, provincial penal police chief, also said he believed the case was not a robbery because of the large amount of cash found at the scene, although he declined to give more details.
Min Bunchhoeun, deputy police chief for Takhmau City, said his police were working on the case with the provincial police, referring all questions to them.
