A 46-year-old part-time guest house cook is scheduled to appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court today to answer charges in what police are calling a murder-for-hire plot that led to the shooting death of the gambling manager at a Phnom Penh club.
Police arrested Yi Yeang and were preparing to send him to court today to face murder charges in the Saturday night shooting of Jheng Gong, 36, the gambling manager at the Pacific Kiss Club, Police Captain Doung Sunchantha said.
Witnesses at the club have identified Yi Yeang as the man who walked up to Jheng, a Chinese national, as Jheng counted the evening’s lottery receipts behind the club’s cashier counter. Yi Yeang allegedly opened fire with a K-59 handgun, killing the gambling manager, Doung Sunchantha said.
Police earlier said the shooter—a man witnesses said went by the name of “Mab”—was a regular at the club and may have killed Jheng after losing money in the lottery Jheng managed for Pacific Kiss.
However, Yi Yeang is unemployed, picking up temporary work occasionally as a cook in provincial guest houses, so it does not appear he could afford to lose large amounts of money, Doung Sunchantha said. Police believe someone—possibly a business rival—hired Yi Yeang to kill Jheng, the captain said.
Yi Yeang has denied being involved in the fatal shooting, Doung Sunchantha said.
