By Henri Paget
ninemsn (Australia)
Police are hunting a gang of construction workers who they believe bashed an Australian man to death with tree branches in Cambodia.
John Edward Thompson, 47, was found dead early last week near a construction site on a deserted road leading to the five-star Sokha hotel in Sihanoukville.
Staff from a kiosk at the construction site told police they saw a small group of labourers drinking together in the hours leading up to the late-night killing, the Phnom Penh Post reports.
Chrann Chamroeun, a journalist for the newspaper, told ninemsn the area where the NSW man was killed was a strange place for a foreigner to be at night.
"It's very quiet around that area ... police have said travelling there at night-time there is not safe."
Thompson had been in Cambodia for more than a year before his death and had reportedly owned a bar in Sihanoukville's popular nightspot Victory Hill.
Various Cambodian news reports have quoted police as saying he ran into debt with the bar and was homeless and living in a Buddhist pagoda before the murder.
Mr Chamroeun told ninemsn that Thompson's 22-year-old Cambodian girlfriend Van Lina said "he was carrying just 2000 riels (A$0.52) at the time of his death".
The deserted location of the murder has raised questions over what Thompson was doing on the road alone at the time.
Unconfirmed reports on Cambodian internet forums, including Sihanoukville Online, claim he was killed over long-standing debts.
Local police are reportedly unsure whether the killing was part of a robbery or an act of revenge.
"Earlier, police told me the suspects were involved with drugs," Mr Chamroeun said.
"I haven't been able to get any confirmation that he owed money."
The case has captured the attention of the Cambodian media, with one news website releasing a graphic photograph of the crime scene.
The Australian Embassy in Cambodia was unable to provide information on the killing when contacted last night.
John Edward Thompson, 47, was found dead early last week near a construction site on a deserted road leading to the five-star Sokha hotel in Sihanoukville.
Staff from a kiosk at the construction site told police they saw a small group of labourers drinking together in the hours leading up to the late-night killing, the Phnom Penh Post reports.
Chrann Chamroeun, a journalist for the newspaper, told ninemsn the area where the NSW man was killed was a strange place for a foreigner to be at night.
"It's very quiet around that area ... police have said travelling there at night-time there is not safe."
Thompson had been in Cambodia for more than a year before his death and had reportedly owned a bar in Sihanoukville's popular nightspot Victory Hill.
Various Cambodian news reports have quoted police as saying he ran into debt with the bar and was homeless and living in a Buddhist pagoda before the murder.
Mr Chamroeun told ninemsn that Thompson's 22-year-old Cambodian girlfriend Van Lina said "he was carrying just 2000 riels (A$0.52) at the time of his death".
The deserted location of the murder has raised questions over what Thompson was doing on the road alone at the time.
Unconfirmed reports on Cambodian internet forums, including Sihanoukville Online, claim he was killed over long-standing debts.
Local police are reportedly unsure whether the killing was part of a robbery or an act of revenge.
"Earlier, police told me the suspects were involved with drugs," Mr Chamroeun said.
"I haven't been able to get any confirmation that he owed money."
The case has captured the attention of the Cambodian media, with one news website releasing a graphic photograph of the crime scene.
The Australian Embassy in Cambodia was unable to provide information on the killing when contacted last night.
4 comments:
i know, as sad as it sound of a life or any life is taken away, even khmer people can use common sense not to go to that kind of neighborhood in the middle of the night. it sounds like it really was an isolated incidence because it could happened to anybody, foreign-looking person or local khmer people, really. in cambodia, khmer people are very vigilant and used a lot of common sense by telling and educating their family members not to wander or go to a place like mentioned above by themselves or in the middle of the night, let alone walking in the dark street at night because bad people are found in any country, and they can get drunk, drugged, etc and hurt you if you go there in the wrong place at the wrong time, etc, really. it's certainly is sad for the victim's family, but it's also about using common sense, too, really!
remember the so-called saying "when in rome, do what the romans do." well, when in cambodia don't do or go where the local don't go either. cambodian people stay home at night because they know well that bad people are out at night, especially in a dark ally or a poorly lid streets, etc... khmer people don't usually go out in the middle of the night like this because they know you can get hurt. so listen to the advise of the local as well, ok!
dude, 7:57 am said, really and really
what are you a saturday night fenon, really.
Really is really his signature. Really? Not really, that's why I am asking. Really!
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