Police said they have arrested a Chinese national and his Cambodian counterpart for stabbing a Chinese restaurant owner to death in a Phnom Penh guesthouse and dumping his body in a river after he refused to pay a ransom.
The two suspects — Chinese national Gao Keyan, 40, and his Cambodian accomplice Mong Chamroeun, 21 — were arrested in Preah Sihanouk province on Thursday, Yim Sarann, Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district police chief, said on Friday.
Mr. Keyan, a cook, called his former boss, restaurant owner Luo Feng, 35, who lived in the coastal province, to Phnom Penh on April 11 for a final lunch before Mr. Keyan returned to China, Mr. Sarann said.
However, when Mr. Feng arrived at his fellow countryman’s guesthouse in Choam Chao commune, the two suspects tied him up and demanded a ransom to release him, he added.
“They confessed that they confined Mr. Luo Feng, 35, in an attempt to extort money from him, but the victims refused to give a ransom and he was killed” with a knife, a report on the National Police website said on Friday.
The pair then wrapped the victim up in a plastic bag and drove to Kandal province, where he was dumped in a river, it said.
The pair fled to Preah Sihanouk province the following day, Mr. Sarann said.
“Now, we are collecting more evidences and the suspects will be sent to the court on Sunday,” he added.
