No suspects have been arrested or identified in connection with the brutal Tuesday murder of an Australian lawyer, Municipal Police said Thursday.
The police, however, said evidence indicates the killer knew the victim.
So Vandy, deputy chief of municipal police for foreigners, said police believe 46-year-old Max Green was the victim of a revenge killing by another foreigner.
So Vandy said his department is cooperating with the Interior Ministry’s penal police.
Green was found in a pool of his own blood Tuesday by a maid in his room at the Hotel Sofitel Cambodiana.
He had been hit over the head with a brick before he was strangled with a necktie, police said.
Police said a faulty hotel security system allowed the murderer to escape without being detected.
The four-star hotel employs a computerized camera system to track the movements of guests inside of the hotel. However, the system was out of order at the time of the murder, police said.
“It seems that the murderer probably knew the cameras were not working before committing the crime,” So Vandy said. “But this is only what we suspect in the early stages of the investigation.”
Hotel management refused to be interviewed Thursday.
Agence France-Presse reported Wednesday that police had reason to believe large amounts of money were missing from the room. However, So Vandy discounted a robbery theory Thursday, saying there is no evidence to support it.
Green entered Cambodia on March 13 on a tourist visa, police said. He was here on business, The Associated Press reported.
Hotel staff said Thursday that no guest had been murdered in the hotel since it opened in 1990.
Australian Embassy officials confirmed the man’s death and said arrangements were being made to have the body sent back to Australia.
(Additional reporting by Marc Levy)
