Municipal military police are trying to re-arrest a couple suspected in a 5-year-old attempted murder plot, police said Monday.
The case began in 1997, when the couple allegedly paid hit men $2,000 to kill Pao Seang, a watch seller at Phsar Thmei, over a business dispute.
Military police officer Tep Panha said the attempted killing failed, although Pao Seang’s relative Leang Seng said Pao Seang’s husband, Kim San, was shot in the shoulder.
Leang Seng said that three years later, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued arrest warrants for Kim Seng, also known as Keang Teangchiv or Ki, and his wife, Sang Kun, also known as Chou. They lived at that time in O’Russei I commune, Prampi Makara district.
The couple was arrested, but freed after a month by the municipal court after there was tampering with the testimony of a witness, Leang Seng said.
The victim and her family then sued the suspects in the Court of Appeals. That appeals court agreed with the municipal court’s ruling and dismissed the suit, Leang Seng said. The family appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court which, after investigation, ordered a new trial on Feb 27 and issued new warrants for the couple’s arrest.
