An apparent love triangle ended in tragedy Sunday when a one-legged veteran was stabbed to death near Phsar Thmei, allegedly by his estranged wife’s new boyfriend.
Keo Chanborath, district police chief, said Monday that police are searching for the wife and the boyfriend.
He said the veteran, Chy Sa Em, 35, went to a rented house in the Don Penh district shortly before dawn on Sunday, apparently to confront his wife and the other man.
A man at the rented house stabbed Chy Sa Em five times and then fled. Although Chy Sa Em was taken to Calmette Hospital he did not survive.
Police say Chy Sa Em, who was unemployed, had sought treatment in the past at Ketomelea Military Hospital.
His wife, Prak Thavy, worked as a housekeeper at the La Paillot Hotel near Phsar Thmei.
He said Prak Thavy had wanted a divorce from Chy Sa Em and even offered him $300 to give her one.
The couple did get a decree from the village chief but it was not an official divorce.
Keo Chanborath said Lao Chy, who is married, works at the military hospital as a driver. Police speculate that Prak Thavy may have met him there while visiting her husband.
He said neither Prak Thavy nor Lao Chy has reported for work since the stabbing.
Police believe the couple has remained in the area. “I think they are not far away from the place, waiting to see how things go on,’’ Keo Chanborath said.