Chinese nationals charged over Kandal SUV murder

Chinese nationals charged over Kandal SUV murder

Kandal Provincial Court on Thursday reportedly charged three Chinese nationals accused of murdering their countryman, whose body was found in a trunk of an SUV, in Ang Snuol district over a debt.

Tin Socheatra, spokesperson for the provincial court, yesterday said they were charged with “murder and accomplice to murder” under Article 199 of the Criminal Code.

Mr Socheatra said if convicted, each suspect could be jailed for up to 15 years.

“The court charged them over the killing of a friend who is also a Chinese national,” he said.

Mr Socheatra said the victim was allegedly killed because he owed $160,000 to two of the suspects.

Colonel Chao Vuthy, chief of the provincial serious crimes bureau, said yesterday the suspects were arrested on January 21 and 23.

He identified the victim as Lao Qing Ping, 54, who worked for a factory in Ang Snuol.

Col Vuthy said two of the suspects were hitmen, while the other was an accomplice.

According to police, the murder happened on the morning of January 21 at the victim’s factory in the district.

Police said the victim was beaten to death and placed in the trunk of a Lexus LX-470.

Police officers were called to the factory after someone reported seeing the victim’s body being taken to the car. An all-points bulletin on the car was broadcast to law enforcement agents, leading to the suspects being stopped in Phnom Penh and the discovery of the victim’s body in the trunk.

It said the two suspects led police to arrest the third suspect, Jia Haz Ping, the alleged accomplice, in Kandal province on January 23.