Police in Phnom Penh arrested two men yesterday morning over their alleged involvement in a triple murder in Kandal province last month that left two women and a 15-year-old girl dead, police said.
The men were arrested in Dangkao district by Phnom Penh’s minor crime police officers, said minor crimes municipal police chief Song Ly. He added that the suspects were turned over to Kandal provincial police, who had been leading the investigation.
“We only cooperated to arrest the suspects, but the owner of this case is the Kandal provincial police, who have handled this case,” Mr Ly said.
Kandal provincial police chief Iv Chamroeun identified the suspects as Sok Seng, 44, and Ton Sarum, 30. Mr Chamroeun confirmed that the men were arrested yesterday, but declined to comment further, saying a press conference was scheduled for today where further details would be revealed.
Sok Koeu, 48, her 24-year-old daughter, Seng Muoy Kea, and their 15-year-old servant, Pach Sreynia, were found dead on Oct 9 with single bullet wounds to the back of each of their heads. The victims were found lying on a mattress in a room above the family’s Chinese noodle restaurant in Kandal’s Takhmao City.
Police said the victims had been shot about 20 hours before their bodies were found.
After the victims were discovered, police found $10,000 tucked into a mattress inside Sok Koeu’s home. The money led authorities to discard robbery as a motive at the time. However, Mr Chamroeun said yesterday that robbery might have been the motive, adding that the suspects could have taken some money, but left the $10,000 behind to fool police.
“We are questioning those suspects, so I can’t reveal [information] to the public,” said Moeu Chantha, chief of the Kandal provincial penal police. “I can’t comment until this case finishes.”
