A senior police officer in the Interior Ministry was killed before dawn on Khmer New Year last week shortly after his wife’s alleged lover entered his house, police said Wednesday.
Tuol Kok district officials blamed the murder on a love affair and said they suspect the victim’s wife collaborated with the killer.
Lieutenant Colonel Chhon Rithy Sith, 33, was shot three times by a foster brother who had stayed at his home for years, said Ngy Socheat, deputy police chief of Tuol Kok district.
An arrest warrant will be issued for Hem Borin, who was an economics police officer in the Interior Ministry, said Nget Sarath, a prosecutor in municipal court.
The prosecutor indicated an arrest warrant also could be issued against Chhon Rithy Sith’s wife, pending further police investigation. The two are suspected of having an affair.
When Chhon Rithy Sith learned earlier this year that his wife often took walks with Hem Borin, he threw Hem Borin out of his home, police said.
In the early morning of April 13, Chhon Rithy Sith awoke to find Hem Borin in his home and he asked his wife to hand him a pistol, police said. But police said the wife handed the gun to Hem Borin instead, who shot Chhon Rithy Sith.
“All husbands cannot live if their wives have a love affair,” Ngy Socheat said. “They must die like this.”
The victim was head of logistics of the radio-communication department in the Interior Ministry.
