Police said yesterday they had arrested a 35-year-old man over his suspected involvement in Tuesday’s brutal triple murder of a 17-year-old girl and her parents in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district.
Ry Sarun, 52, Ne Sovannary, 48, and their daughter as Ry Nalin, 17, were all stabbed repeatedly in their ransacked apartment on Tuesday morning. The mother and daughter, who died at the scene, also had their throats slashed.
Officers believe more than one person was involved in the murders, which they say were part of an attempt to rob the family, who owned a junk shop in Chamkar Mon district’s Phsar Doeum Thkov commune.
Municipal penal police chief Chuon Naren said yesterday that suspect Sok Lin was arrested in Kien Svay district around 7 pm Tuesday by Meanchey district police officers.
“Now he is being questioned by our investigation police,” Mr Naren said, adding that items taken from the house during the robbery were not worth a great deal. “Although this suspect has not yet confessed, our investigation police still suspect he was involved in the triple murder. We hope to arrest [other] killers in coming days.”
Deputy Meanchey district police chief Men Hengthit said yesterday that Mr Lin, a motorcycle taxi driver, had not yet been charged. “We just only suspect him. Our police investigation is still going on and he is currently being held in police custody,” he said.
Chamkar Mon district police chief Ouch Sokhon said his officers were also continuing their investigation. “All my policemen in Chamkar Mon are investigating to find some evidence of the killers and to collect evidence near the victims’ house,” he said.
Mr Sokhon said National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun had directly ordered district police to find and arrest those who had killed the three family members.
Relatives and friends continued to grieve yesterday, performing traditional Chinese-style funeral practices at the family’s home. A group of Nalin’s classmates also appealed to police to find their friend’s killers.
